The Skies of Night and Day
by Degani
Summary: Three years after the the fateful trip to Nanimori, Tsuna and Rikuo have grown into their yōkai world. But when news comes with Tsuna having to take over the Vongola, things rapidly change in both the yōkai and human world. - Sequel to 'A Sky Revealed by the Night' -
1. Suspicions

_In Italy…_

In a remote location in a beautiful scenery of Italy, an old man sat waiting as he signed some paperwork. It was obvious that he had a mass amount of wealth as the entire room was clean without a speck of dirt or otherwise, and the luxurious furniture were well-kept and still had that new scent of packaging. The books that lined the shelves were both old and new, existing from the time of the Primo of the Vongola Famiglia, up to the old man's time. Yet you would never know with the great care taken into the books, and not a single page would be yellow with age.

The old man coughed a little, stopping as the coughs wracked through his aged body. Once they subsided, he sighed, and glanced at the door before turning back to signing the papers before him. There was a large stack, and he decided a little distraction would hurt.

But only if that person would show up!

A click from the door was heard, bringing the old man out of his musings. He smiled at what appeared to be an infant wearing a black suit with a black fedora wrapped with an orange coloured ribbon, with a small green chameleon sitting on the brim. "Ah... Reborn. I'm glad you could make it." greeted the old man, his voice warm and welcoming like a grandfather.

Reborn tilted his fedora in greeting with surprising maturity of someone his age, before walking up to a chair that sat before the desk and jumping onto it. He pushed his fedora out of the way, revealing large black eyes that stared at the old man unblinkingly. Normally, most would have felt insulted at such an act, even if it was a child, but they both knew he was no ordinary infant. "Ninth," Reborn began, "I heard the news just recently."

The old man sagged in his chair, now appearing even older. "I tried to put more guards at Massimo's side, but I see now… That they're truly determined…"

"At the rate things are going on now, it most likely would fall to Iemitsu's son." Reborn replied.

The Ninth sighed, putting a hand over his face tiredly. "As much as I want to deny it... I believe that will be how it goes. I still hope Frederico survives this."

"If Frederico survives, then the Vongola might never return to the way the Primo would have wanted it to." Reborn said bluntly. "Even if he is your son, his Will is not the same as yours or the Primo's."

Reborn could see the old man's jaw tighten at that, but he made no denial to his words. "What will you do if Frederico _does_ die?"

For a moment, the old man was silent, and then he removed his hand. His eyes were hard and clear; the eyes of a Vongola boss. "Then we will have no choice but to make Sawada Tsunayoshi into the next Tenth Vongola Family boss."

* * *

_Back in Japan…_

Chocolate brown eyes slowly cracked open, wincing at the harsh sunlight beaming through his window. Groaning a bit, he ruffled his hair with one hand as he reached for his clock with the other. He yawned widely before setting his gaze on the brightly lit numbers of his clock, which swirled around in his vision before settling on the bright light settled on 8:15. He blinked sleepily at the time, setting it back on his bedside table before falling back against his pillow, ready to snooze for a little while longer. As the time finally registered in his mind, his eyes snapped open and he bolted upright as he stared at the clock in disbelief.

"HHHHIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Downstairs in the kitchen area, a woman and a small child were drinking tea as they listened to the thumps coming from Tsuna's room as he scrambled to get ready to go to school. "You should really wake him up if you want him to go to a human school, Nana-chan." The child scolded in a surprisingly mature sounding voice, blowing lightly on her steaming tea.

The corners of Nana's lips curved upwards in amusement. "If I don't let him learn to wake up on his own, how will he learn to do things on his own, Kōun-chan?"

Kōun puffed her cherubic cheeks as she huffed at the other. "You grew up waking up later than Tsu-chan, and you managed just fine."

"Yeah well," Nana waved a hand dismissively. "I had a different upbringing from Tsu-kun."

"If you said so." Kōun sighed, and hopped out of her chair, shuffling out of the kitchen as she did her best to walk out gracefully and not trip on the hem of her kimono. "I'm going to open the door for Tsu-kun, he almost made a hole in it yesterday."

Nana nodded as she got up as well, getting the bento she had prepared for her son where she had left it on the counter. "Be careful you don't get in the way though, Tsu-kun's tripped on you a few too many times." She warned.

Kōun grumbled, "I know, I still have the bruises to prove it." She reached up to the doorknob, barely reaching it due to her short stature, and had just turned the knob as the sound of Tsuna's footsteps could be heard pounding down the hallway, and he could now be heard crashing down the stairs as well.

"Good morning, Mama, Kōun-san." He greeted hastily as he scrambled up from the painful position he had landed in at the bottom of the stairs. He gave his mother a peck on the cheek as he grabbed his bento, and Kōun just opened the door as Tsuna flew through it, the gust of wind left behind causing the door to be wrenched out of the small child's hands and slamming the door shut.

Outside, the brunet didn't quite make it too far before he crashed into a much taller and muscular figure standing at the gate leading to his house. They both fell down with a grunt and a tangle of limbs. It took a minute for the two to struggle to get loose, and once they did, Tsuna looked up to see who it was that he had accidentally collided with, an apology on the tip of his tongue. "Sorr-! Yamamoto-san? Why're you here?"

"Maa, maa, Tsuna! You forget or something? I told you I'd come walk with you to school!" Takeshi replied, rubbing a bump on his head. "That's what friends do, don't they?"

Tsuna smiled, feeling happy to see his friend. "Yeah, but don't you usually have practice in the morning?"

The taller teen waved it off. "I said I would walk with you, ne? Besides, it's good exercise walking to school, doing practice, and walking back here. It's always best to stay in shape!"

"There's just no arguing with you." Tsuna laughed, glad he had a friend like Takeshi. It just made school all that much better.

Takeshi grinned, but stopped as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "You know, Hibari actually told me something pretty weird when I left. He said to tell you 'don't be late again, herbivore.' I don't get it, we haven't been late _that_ often."

At the thought of Hibari attacking him _again_ for being late to school and their daily spar suddenly filled the boy with energy he knew he desperately needed if he was going to get to school in record time. He grabbed Takeshi's wrist and dashed off to the direction of school, yelling about being bitten to death and Takeshi laughing all the way.

From where the yōkai had been watching from the window, Kōun turned to look at Nana with a stare she was all too familiar with by now. She had been receiving that stare from the girl ever since she had allowed her small son to meet her Hyakki Yakō, and after she had told her subordinates about the situation with the Vongola Famiglia. She could almost predict what the child was going to say even. "All this stress is not going to be good for him when he finds out there's only one more heir left before he'll be made the next leader of that Vongola mafia."

"I know, Kōun-chan." Nana sighed as she leaned against the wall of the kitchen heavily. "But this is all I can do to let him have of a normal human life. Once that last heir dies, Tsu-kun will have no choice but to become the next leader."

Knowing this was what Nana had wanted to avoid, Kōun patted a chubby hand against Nana's leg. "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, Tsu-chan will be all right. When I exchanged sakazuki with you all those years ago, I promised I would keep you and any person who was important to you safe. I _am _a Zashiki-Warashi after all."

* * *

As the pair of boys panted heavily while continuing to run, Tsuna started slowly down unconsciously. Takeshi noticed the sudden drop of energy, and started lagging behind with his friend. He wasn't about to abandon him anytime soon.

"You tired Tsuna? Come on, what happened to that intense speed of yours, haha!" Takeshi asked breathlessly. He was a little sweaty, but no worse for wear. Unfortunately, this couldn't be applied to the brunet as he was sweating a lot of the water in his body, and panting like he just ran a marathon.

"Haa… Haa… How… Haa… Are you… Not tired?" Tsuna panted, feeling ready to collapse on unsteady legs.

The taller teen shrugged, coming to a stop now that Tsuna was barely moving. "Who knows. Maybe it's all the milk I've been drinking for years! All that milk really helps. Maybe you should drink more too!"

Tsuna managed to give a small smile in return, but it quickly dropped as he knew it would be milk that could get him his energy back. "Why don't you go on ahead?" He said breathlessly. "It wouldn't be good if Hibari-san caught the both of us."

Takeshi look thoughtful, and for a moment, Tsuna was sure he was going to take his advice. "Ah!" He said, tapping his fist into an open palm. "I've got a better idea! Why don't I both take us to school?"

A skeptical look crept into Tsuna's eyes as he eyed his friend warily. "W-What do you mean by that?" He asked, slowly edging away from Takeshi.

"I mean… this!" He said, suddenly slinging the brunet over his shoulder and jogging the rest of the way to school, Tsuna screaming all the way. Fortunately, there was no one else out on the streets as everyone else had already reached school, so no one was witness to the baseball ace of Nanimori Middle running through the streets with Dame-Tsuna slung over his shoulder like a sack of rice. The brunet already had a bad reputation around school, and he didn't want to drag his only friend into it as well.

When they finally reached the gates to the school, it was eerily deserted. Tsuna could feel more sweat dripping down his face at the sign.

"Whoops, haha!" Takeshi laughed, "Looks like we're still late!"

"W-What do you mean?" Tsuna asked, feeling slightly lightheaded as Takeshi put him back on the ground. The dark haired boy only grinned and pointed before them, and Tsuna nearly choked when he saw who it was he was pointing to.

"H-Hibari-san!"

The dreaded head prefect of the disciplinary committee, Hibari Kyoya, was standing in front of them threateningly. He was by himself, which in itself wasn't unusual, but the way his stance was imposing and Tsuna was quite certain that the prefect had been waiting there for the them.

"Herbivore, what are you doing here so late? Didn't the other herbivore tell you to not be late?" Kyoya growled, his steel grey eyes staring down at them.

Takeshi grinned, not bothered by the glare in the least, and folded his arms behind his head. "Sorry about that, I forgot and told him on the way here. We were late already when I told him."

The prefect growled, pulling out his trademark tonfas. "And you were still this late? Come here and accept the penalty then, herbivores, or I'll bite you both to death."

"Well, that doesn't sound too friendly." Takeshi remarked, swiftly dodging a blow from the prefect with ease. "Whoops! That was close."

"If you don't stand still, I'll bite you herbivores to death for avoiding penalty." Kyoya said, taking a swipe at Tsuna. It wouldn't be farfetched to say that he was surprised when the boy managed to dodge most of the blow and looked at the prefect in what seemed to be irritation.

"Not like it matters, I'll be bitten to death either way." The brunet muttered.

Caught off guard slightly at the personality change, Kyoya lowered his tonfas a miniscule amount as he asked, "What was that, herbivore?" Despite having had heard perfectly well what the strange herbivore had said.

Tsuna's head snapped up in surprise, as if he hadn't noticed that the prefect was standing right in front of him. He scrambled around the prefect, quickly saying, "Nothing! I'm late for class, so I'll see you later!" before dashing off toward the direction of Kyoya's beloved Nanimori. Taking that as a cue to leave, Takeshi gave the older boy a wave as he followed his friend into the building.

The prefect himself stood watching Tsuna and Takeshi's tired forms sprint into the school, where a large amount of noise could be heard from the brunet tripping over random objects in the hall. He made a mental note to add another punishment for the herbivore before strolling inside at a more reasonable pace. Normally, he would have immediately punished any that did not obey his order, but the timid brunet seemed to not be acting himself today. It was the first time he had heard the brunet not stutter when speaking to someone, and it was also the first time he had ever even heard the brunet talk _back_ to anyone, especially him.

And for the briefest of moments, Kyoya's sharp eyes caught the herbivore's chocolate brown orbs flash a brilliant orange hue before changing back to the innocent doe-eyed look he was known for.

Tucking his beloved tonfas away into his coat, Kyoya stalked off toward the Disciplinary Committee room to have a nap, and then to investigate this strange change in the small brunet herbivore.

* * *

While racing through the hallways with Takeshi close behind, Tsuna was berating Sora for nearly revealing themselves so easily to a human.

'Why did you do that? I had things perfectly under control!' Tsuna mentally raged.

**Control? You? Don't delude yourself, that tonfa was aiming to knock you out, and it would've if I hadn't taken control.** Sora snorted, knowing the truth just as well as Tsuna did.

'I'm supposed to be a _regular_ human, if you haven't noticed! You know that everyone says I'm not supposed to be good at anything, and that also includes yōkai abilities!' He retorted. 'Now Hibari-san is going to get suspicious that I'm not a regular person!'

**To be fair, you aren't really. **The crackly voice replied, completely honest as he usually was. **And if they do find out, just stop going to school. Simple as that.**

Tsuna resisted the urge to slap his hand against his face, knowing there was no arguing with a yōkai, especially himself. It would like quite strange to Takeshi if he did too. 'You're really starting to sound like Uncle…'

_**Would the both of you shut up? Ugh, I'm still recovering from the party last night…**_ Ishou spoke up, his deep voice cracking with sleep.

'That's your fault, you're the one who decided to take control and participate in the "who can hold their sake best" contest the others were holding.' Tsuna chided, feeling the effects of the alcohol creeping back on him. He had built up a tolerance for it over the years, so it wouldn't show when he went to school, but it wasn't enough to completely ward off the effects of six bottles of sake that his Nurarihyon self drank yesterday. It was amazing how much yōkai could drink without killing themselves or not passing out.

Remarking back on his four years as a yōkai, Tsuna couldn't help but be amazed. After that simple trip of going to visit a relative he had never met before, he discovered and entirely new world hidden in the human world, and a side of himself he didn't know he had. He could still feel it, the fire that burned inside of him, and the voices he heard were no illusion of any sort. Rikuo had something similar to what Tsuna had, and Tsuna himself had seen the manifestation of that voice.

There were plenty of times that Rikuo changed from his day form to his night form, and Tsuna was acutely aware of it, and Rikuo was too. All five got along with each relatively well, though there was something of a rivalry going on between the three yōkai personalities. Rikuo and Tsuna both agreed it was bothersome at times, but it was highly amusing at others. Especially when other yōkai got to witness their little 'rivalry' going on.

Nana had sighed and said she was happy they got along. Like her and Iemitsu, especially during their honeymoon all those years ago.

Everyone fought NOT to throw up whatever they had eaten at that image.

It was also during this time that Tsuna learned more about Nana's Hyakki Yakkō. Rather than Rikuo's grandfather's Hyakki Yakkō where they all respected him as the Supreme Commander, everyone in Nana's Hyakki Yakkō treated each other equally. Like a tight-knit family. Many of them were of different ages and species, but they all had a history with Nana. Some of them had been there to take care of her when she was a child, and some she met when she grew up and went travelling with her parents. It wasn't hard for Tsuna to tell that these yōkai helped fill the empty hole that Iemitsu left when he went back to work overseas.

As for the way they treated him, well, he discovered a lot of things he didn't want to know when Nana had allowed the yōkai to socialize with her precious son. He had been rather frightened of them at first. But gradually, he could see that they were yōkai who held nothing against humans and were being genuinely kind to him, something that he couldn't find amongst his human classmates or other humans in general. His yōkai sides kept pushing him to communicate to the yōkai more, as it was what he had asked for, and he finally gave in after much arguing.

Surprisingly, he found the yōkai to be better company than many that he knew of in school, and quickly discovered that Nana had secretly ordered them to keep an eye on his while he was in school. Her own subordinates teased her relentlessly for it, leaving Tsuna to watch the scene with astonishment. They also, in turn, became the brothers, sisters, and other family members that Tsuna never had. They saw the similarities between him and Nana, and decided that he was someone that they would protect and follow until the time that Tsuna could grow up and form his own Hyakki Yakō.

So caught up in past memories, Tsuna entirely forgot (again) that whenever his mind went off somewhere, his body went on auto-pilot to whatever his destination was. It just so conveniently happened that his arms decided not to cooperate, as he had reached the door to his classroom already. But instead of snapping out of it and opening the door before he apologized to his teacher for being late, he ran smack into the door, shocking both Takeshi and the occupants on the other side of the door.

"Whoa, Tsuna, are you ok?!" Takeshi exclaimed, helping Tsuna up from his place on the floor.

Tsuna groaned, rubbing a reddening spot on his forehead. "Y-Yeah, I think so…" He muttered, picking up his fallen things before facing the door. He could already hear the faint whisperings of his name and about how he suited his nickname, 'Dame-Tsuna.' Resigned to having no choice but to go in, he quietly slid the door open. The snickers and whispers increased into laughter and jeers at once they saw him.

"Uwah, so it was just Dame-Tsuna!"

"Hahaha! How lame... Only Dame-Tsuna would run into a door."

"Not to mention being late when the Disciplinary Committee declared today to be inspection today."

"How can Yamamoto stand being friends with a guy like him?"

"Aw, come on, guys. Tsuna's not that bad!" Yamamoto said, a rare frown on his face instead of a smile. "I've been friends with him for a while now, haven't I?"

Someone in the class scoffed. "Yeah, it's amazing how you can do it. No one else'd want to deal with Dame-Tsuna."

Takeshi was about to retort to that when Tsuna put a hand on Takeshi's arm. "Don't, I'm used to it after all. It's… not the first time." He said with an awkward smile. Back before he became friends with Takeshi, he wanted to change how they saw him, to become friends with them. Now, he was fine that he would most likely not gain another human friend other than Takeshi amongst them.

"Sawada-kun, Yamamoto-kun, why are you late today?" He could hear their teacher ask exasperatedly. The brunet briefly wondered why he bothered to ask when he knew the answer, but dismissed it. "S-Sorry, I-I woke up late again." He replied. Takeshi grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "I forgot the time, haha."

The teacher sighed and gestured at them to take their seats, returning to writing the rest of the lesson the blackboard. As Tsuna walked down the row, he could hear snickers of his classmates, and saw one actually try to trip him. He could have avoided it easily, really. But he was Dame-Tsuna, the stupid klutz that would never get anywhere in life. He already had Kyoya suspicious of that persona, and he didn't need the entire class to become the same.

Tsuna's foot caught on the outstretched limb, and watched in slow motion as the floor came up to meet his face. Suddenly, two strong arms wrapped themselves around his torso, and he found himself suspended just a few centimetres above the floor. Though Tsuna hadn't been paying much attention to who was around him, he didn't need to turn to know which one of his classmates it was that saved him.

The boy who had stuck his foot out start complaining as his face screwed up. "Eeeh, Kamui-san. Why'd you have to do that? I was so close on making Dame-Tsuna have a meeting with the floor. They're both on the same level anyways." He snickered.

Kamui shot an annoyed stare at the boy, though a slight shake of Tsuna's brown mop of hair stopped him from going any further. "Fine." He said flatly, releasing his hold on Tsuna, and letting his face plant on the floor. It wasn't as particularly hard as it would have been if Kamui hadn't stopped Tsuna, but it still hurt his face, and he figured he might have bruised his nose again. Many of the people around them laughed, and some even kicked him a bit before returning to copy the notes on the board, the teacher not even paying attention to what they did to Tsuna. Takeshi only managed a worried glance before he was forced to his seat by everyone else.

For the rest of the lesson, he endured the insults his teacher gave the poor brunet whenever he asked a question but could never give the correct answer. Though, to be fair, he was usually asked the most difficult one to make sure Tsuna got it wrong. He took it all in stride, and huddled down on his desk so no one would pay attention to him. He fell asleep a few times, but someone would bounce a rock of the top of his head, and one of the ones made of granite too. He eventually gave up, and did his best to pay attention to the lesson on the board, enduring the insults he received for his wrong answers, and the marble sized rocks that bounced off of his head.

* * *

"Tsuna, you okay? That looked like it hurt back there." Takeshi asked, looking over Tsuna's face worriedly.

It was lunchtime now, and many people in class had dispersed to eat around the school. The main reason being they didn't want to be wherever Dame-Tsuna was. It just somehow made them feeling like they were eating 'dame' food, if that was somehow possible.

Tsuna peered up from a book he was reading, carefully using the book to mask his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's no big deal." He replied, his voice partly muffled. "Aren't your team members waiting for you?"

The baseball teen stood up and looked at the door where many people from the school team were impatiently waving him over. "Oi, Yamamoto!" one called out to him. "Stop hanging out with that Dame-Tsuna and get on the field! Coach wants us to practice, you know!"

"Yeah, I'll be right there! You go on ahead!" He called, flashing a grin at them before turning back to the brunet. "Tsuna, you sure you'll be ok? I can always tell them I can't make it."

Stubbornly, Tsuna shook his head. He knew very well how important baseball was to his friend. "No, don't worry about it. I got some homework to do, anyways. Go, I'll be fine."

The other still didn't seem quite too sure, but hesitantly obeyed. "Alright… If you're sure. If something happens, don't hesitate to talk to me! I'll help you in whatever way I can, ok?"

"If you don't hurry up, your team's gonna yell at you again." Tsuna said amusedly, a small smile turning up the corner of his lips behind the book. "Don't worry, I wouldn't keep something important to myself. You're one of the few people I really trust, you know?"

At that, Takeshi smiled widely, feeling glad to hear that. "Yeah, and I trust you. I would even give you my life, haha!"

Before Tsuna could reply to that, Takeshi was out the door with a smile and a wave. The brunet lowered the book from his face, revealed a red nose that was still bruised from landing on the floor. He considered himself lucky for not breaking it since he landed nose first really. There were some mutterings from people in class about their interaction, and it made Tsuna quite frustrated. Is it really that difficult to understand that they were friends?

Noticing a familiar head of pure white hair, and turned to see the school nurse, Hanayome, pass by in the hall. Tsuna waited a moment after Hanayome had disappeared from sight to slowly pack up his belongings into his bag. He knew perfectly well what would happen if he left his stuff behind, and he was tired of having to constantly replace them. He then pushed his chair back with a loud squeal, causing silence to fall in the room. Every pair of eyes was on the brunet, as if daring him to do something. Ignoring them, Tsuna walked out of the room with some tripping on part from his classmates.

Once he closed the door behind him, he took off in the direction Hanayome had gone. There were people in the hallway who bumped and sneered at him, but Tsuna mostly ignored them by keeping his eyes steadily on his feet. He knew that he was labelled as the stupid and useless student of the school, someone who wasn't worth their time. It wasn't really a big deal to him, as it was easier for him if they ignored him.

After a few bruises and insults thrown at him, the brunet ended up at the door leading to the roof of the school. He took a deep breath as he placed his hand on the handle. He came here often to eat his meals when Takeshi was busy with other things. It was the only place in school where it was quiet and no one was around to insult him, as well as the privacy that he needed when he came up here.

"Tsuna-kun! Over here!" A voice called, over to the far side of the fenced roof where one wouldn't be immediately noticed if someone stumbled onto the roof.

"Yeah, coming!" The boy replied, walking towards the source of the voice.

Once he got close enough, he noticed that four of his mother's yōkai were there eating their meals like it was normal. It would've, if they ate the normal food that other humans ate. At first glance, the bentos they had in front of them looked like a normal box of food with healthy and filling food. However, at a second and closer glance, one would be able to tell that the food wasn't quite as normal as thought initially. The four of them weren't the best cooks in the house, so Nana had gleefully taken on the task of making the bentos for the five of them to take to school. She was skilled in cooking, there was no denying that, and she had the wonderful talent of hiding things in her food.

Tsuna sat down next to them, pulling out his own bento and opening it. He gave his thanks for the food as was proper, and silently started eating. He knew that they would start anyways, and he wanted to enjoy a little peace before they got angry. He could tell that at least one was, as the stare that Kamui was giving him was getting really uncomfortable really quickly.

"Oi, brat." Kamui said bluntly, pointing at the brunet with a pair of chopsticks in his hand. The words were a bit muffled, as he was eating what looked to be shrimp. "How can you stand being beat up like that every day? We bust our asses keeping them safe!"

The hanyō shrugged, munching quietly as he stared at the other. He blinked lazily, knowing this conversation was going to like every time someone picked on him in class.

"Kamui, you idiot, Nana told us we can't tell any of the humans about yōkai. It's dangerous, you know that!" Hanayome reprimanded, giving a light slap to the back of the yōkai's head.

"Ouch, you old hag! Don't touch me, you gonna stick webs on my head again!" The ocean yōkai scowled, jerking his head away from Hanayome's reach. He combed his fingers through his hair, checking if any webs managed to stick themselves into his hair. "It took me hours to get out the ones from last time."

The jorōgumo huffed and crossed her arms. "That wasn't my fault. I told you I was going on a date; it wasn't like I was going to eat him!"

The male rolled his eyes and turned back to his food. "Whatever. Spared the boy from a horrible date anyways."

During this exchange, Tsuna had stayed silent the whole time and didn't interrupt. Normally, he would try to keep the yōkai from fighting with each other, but he eventually learned (through a fight nearly destroying the house _again_) that it was best to leave them to sort it out themselves. It wasn't the best solution, but it was the only one that allowed minimal risk and injury to the human world, Tsuna, and everyone else's sanity.

The other two, both female yōkai,who weren't involved in the two yōkai's quarrel, noticed the boy's silence. "You alright there, Tsu-kun?" one asked.

Surprised someone addressed him, Tsuna fumbled his lunch box in order not to drop it. "Ah, well, yeah. I'm fine. It's only the usual thing. It's not a big deal." He said, hoping that they'll drop the issue.

"Tsu-kun." The girl rasped. She looked much like a human, with long whispery raven locks of hair hanging over her face. It obscured it completely, and it was rarely moved to reveal her face. It was so dark there was a glint of blue when she was in the sunlight, which she was loathe to do unless she had to. "You know Nana-san would be disappointed to see you not getting along with humans. She knows how much you do things to protect them during the night."

"It doesn't matter." Tsuna murmured, his voice soft. Of course, he was worried if Nana ever found out what it was like for him in school, and sincerely hoped she never found out. Both for the sake of his sanity and the promise that he had made with Rikuo. "I'm used to this. If I get a little tired from it, then that's a price I'm willing to pay."

Paying more attention to the other conversation now, Kamui snorted incredulously. "A 'little tired' is not all that you're getting, is it? Everyone knows about the bruises you're hiding under your clothes."

Hanayome nodded in agreement next to him. After Tsuna had went into junior high, Hanayome pulled some strings in order to be the school nurse in order to be the school nurse in Nanimori Junior High. It was partly because Nana had asked her to keep an eye out for Tsuna and tell her of any injuries he might get in school, but it was also a good place to score a date with the male teachers in the school. With her exotic appearance, she could pull off a 'sexy school doctor' look, keep an eye on Tsuna, and be able to go around dating men from the school. A win-win situation for her.

But even with her life outside of school, she did take her duties seriously. She had grown fond of Tsuna over the years, and treated him as if he was her child. Whenever the brunet got injured after trying to run away from Kyoya, some prank pulled by his classmates, or his own clumsiness, Hanayome was always close by to treat them. The jorōgumo was well aware of the cuts and bruises that littered his body, and his overall health with his nightly patrols around the town, dealing with rogue yōkai who had wandered into town.

"It's good to see you're willing to reach out to the humans," Hanayome commented, "but it won't help unless you go and talk to them personally. Don't you think so, Kimi?"

The raven haired girl's head bobbed up and down. "Well, Tsu-kun has inherited much of Nana's stubbornness. He's very much like her, so I don't think anything we say is going to change his mind." She said.

Kamui muttered something about mother and son being the same, but made no other comment on it. Everyone in Nana's Hyakki Yakō knew just how much Nana had influenced her only son, though there was already a strong resemblance to each other when the boy was still a toddler. With everyone stewing in their own thoughts, they picked at their food for a few minutes. Once Tsuna had finished and had put away his bento, he turned to Hanayome with a blank stare.

The yōkai twitched as though she had been poked, already knowing that she had been discovered. She hoped she could distract him, though, and maybe get off the hook. "W-What is it, Tsu-kun? Captured by my breath-taking looks?" She said huskily, though her voice was a bit higher than it should be.

The hanyō merely sighed, feeling mildly irritated that the other was attempting to make use of her flirtatious nature again. Tsuna easily slipped on a mask of disappoint on his face, making the other four yōkai's heart throb slightly (though one would never admit it), as they hated it when the boy got sad. "No," he replied, his tone matching perfectly with his face, "I was just wondering why you're here. Aren't you the school nurse?" The other yōkai didn't even bother hiding their laughter as they saw Hanayome jerk as if she was struck.

"N-No! I mean, um, well, that is, I-I put my webs around the infirmary! S-So if a student comes along, I-I'll know about it!" The yōkai stammered in reply, carefully keeping her eyes away from Tsuna.

Tsuna sighed. He knew that she was lying about that. Over the years, he learned that all the yōkai he was living with had the ability to lie well to each other well in his house. If something got broken, they could easily pass it off as caused by someone else. Even his classmates could spread questionable rumours, with no real basis of being true or not, and Tsuna still had the uncanny ability to know it was a lie or not. Many noted that when they told a lie to Tsuna, his eyes would briefly change colours. It was bizarre, but they didn't think much on it.

"Tsu-kun…?" Hanayome asked uncertainly, as the brunet had said nothing after her words. With great reluctance, she slowly lifted her gaze to look into Tsuna's brown orbs. His large doe-like eyes were wide and teary, as though he was about to cry. His spiky mass of hair looked like it had been deflated slightly, as well as becoming a more dull color. It made the white yōkai nearly collapse as a sharp pain went through her heart, and she felt the sudden urge to tell the boy the truth. But before she could utter a word, Tsuna started speaking. "I thought Mama and I asked you not to use yōkai powers in school…" He said, his voice small and quiet.

"I-I have a good reason to!" She hurried, completely ignoring the chuckles of the other yōkai who were enjoying her discomfort. It wasn't often they could see the jorōgumo lose composure due to a human child more than a hundred years younger than her. But it wasn't that they didn't know what she was going through; he had done it on everyone in the house at least once.

The boy's lower lip quivered slightly, and the yōkai were horrified to see sparkling drops starting to appear on the hanyō's lower eyelids. They hung right over the edge, almost daring to fall down. "D-Don't cry! I'm sorry, I'll go back right now! See? I'm going back right now!" Hanayome cried, fleeing back through the door as fast as she could.

Once the jorōgumo was gone, the remaining three yōkai looked back at Tsuna to see the tears were gone and there was a smirk on his face. _Ah, that boy definitely takes after his mother…_ was the thought that ran through everyone's minds.

**Wow. **Sora whistled, leaning against the fence behind the three yōkai though still in view of Tsuna. **Didn't think you had it in you.**

'Well, it keeps them doing what they're supposed to be doing.' Tsuna replied happily, not aware of the stares he was getting. His innocent appearance and not-dame mind was something that still surprised them, even after four years. They just hoped his appearance changed in the future, so he wouldn't be able to use it anymore on them.

_**I doubt there's very many who can pull something like that off.**_ Ishou added, sitting on the ground next to Tsuna. He flashed the brunet a grin. _**A useful skill you picked up there.**_

For a moment, Tsuna's eyes blazed orange and red, then immediately changed back to their warm brown color. 'I'm strong like you guys, but I have my ways of protecting myself.' He said.

When Tsuna looked up to the three yōkai still staring at him, he noted that they gasped and looked away, pretending that they hadn't been staring at him for the last few minutes unblinkingly. The boy gave them an appreciative smile, knowing that they were just concerned for him. A little too much at times, but he was glad at least someone was worried for him.

"Anyways! We've all gathered here to talk about how it went last night, right?" Tsuna declared, clapping his hands together to get their attention. He nodded to the raven-haired girl. "Kimi-san, you first."

With the reason for their meeting finally at hand, they all sat up straighter, and all traces of embarrassment and laughter was gone from their faces. Kimi raised her head, letting the curtain of hair part slightly to reveal a face tinged with a faint blue color and a pair of impossibly black eyes that blocked out any of the whites of her eyes that seemed too large for the frame of her face. When she opened her mouth to speak, a row of perfect yet dangerously sharp pointed teeth could be seen. "Yes. I went around the old part of Nanimori like you asked, but there was nothing around there out of the ordinary."

The brunet hummed at her report, then he nodded and turned to Kamui. "What about you?" He asked, "Did you find anything?"

"No, all the yōkai said they hadn't seen anything weird." The boy huffed and folded his arms in front of his chest. It was obvious he was annoyed that he had spent yet another boring night with no results.

Feeling a little bit of relief, Tsuna allowed a little of the tension that had been in his body to be released a little. He allowed himself a small smile before he turned to the last person in the group. "Good. What about you, Zuki-san?"

The third yōkai of the group, Zuki, had gone through a dramatic look change over the years. While initially she greatly resembled the cat that she was, she had changed her looks time and time again since she grew bored of them almost as quickly as she chose them. Currently, she had decided to bleach her hair pure white and highlight it with hot pink colors. Many thought it was a very strange thing to do, but considered it as a taunt to the Nanimori prefect who always chased after her wanting to 'bite her to death.' None of the yōkai could really blame him. The color she chose this time was really atrocious.

The bakeneko grinned widely, revealing the pointed teeth that showed she wasn't a regular human. The other two yōkai shifted uncomfortably in their places, as everyone who was a yōkai knew what that grin was supposed to mean. Tsuna's smile faltered slightly at that. If she was smiling like that, it must have meant she found out something. He wasn't entirely sure it was involved with their problem or not.

"Well~" She said, almost purring, "I did as you asked and explored the dreams of some humans. Surprisingly, I found something unexpected in one of them."

At that, her three companions looked at her sharply, making her purr even louder. It was almost as though she was _laughing_ at them. "In one strange child, who is younger than you are, Tsunayoshi-kun, she was dreaming of a strange creature."

"A strange… Creature?" Tsuna repeated, slightly confused. Was she talking about a yōkai or just a nightmare that she thought was interesting?

It seemed that Kamui also thought the same thing, as he growled, "Stupid cat, it was probably just a nightmare. You know how humans are, especially those young female ones."

Zuki turned to stare at Kamui, who didn't even flinch at the other's unnerving gaze. "Hmm~? What was that, Kai-kun?" She purred pushing herself onto his lap. Taking a whiff of a strange scent form the lazy girl, Kamuis suddenly made a face and turned away from her. "Ugh, have you been sneaking catnip again? Geeze, and I thought I had hidden it so well, too."

"Actually, Tsunayoshi-kun gave it to me." The cat yōkai said, settling down comfortably in the other boy's lap. Kamui shot Tsuna a stare, who returned it with a guilty look. "She wouldn't agree to look unless I gave her… Some."

Kimi tilted her head slightly, making her seem scarier than she usually did with her head like that. "Tsu-kun… How much is 'some?'" She asked suspiciously.

The shy brunet's face tinged a bright pink, and he looked away to avoid meeting the other two's accusing gaze. The two looked at each other exasperatedly, knowing that he was most likely feeling kind that day and had given Zuki a large amount of catnip, despite being told constantly not to. Zuki seemed out of it, curling her fingers and batting at Kamui's chin. He snatched her fingers away, and snapped, "Tell us what you saw in that human's dream already!"

"You're so mean, Kai-kun~" She pouted, before slinking out of Kamui's lap to her position from before. "Well, I found it strange, myself at first. The first thing that I had noticed in the girl's dream was a pineapple."

For a long moment, the three of her could only stare at her in an incredulous silence. "Tsuna, don't ever giver her that much catnip ever again." Kamui said finally. Kimi nodded in agreement.

"No, no! I'm being serious here! And I haven't taken any catnip; I'm saving it for later!" Zuki snapped, her playful mood gone now that her precious catnip was involved. "The human girl that I was looking at was the last one I was looking at for the night. I was about to go back since all that I saw in the weird dream was a pineapple. 'Nothing important,' I thought. But just as the girl started to wake up, the pineapple started _changing._"

"Changing? Change how?" Tsuna asked, leaning forward to hear better as his intrigue was now triggered.

Zuki shrugged. "Well, the girl was waking up, so it's quite hard to discern what exactly it was, but I know this much." Her face turned serious now, and the other three found themselves leaning forward even more to catch her words.

"It changed into a fox with six tails, with one eye as blue as the ocean and the other eye as red as blood."

* * *

**Yōkai Corner**

Name : Kōun  
Species: Zakishi-Warashi

Age : 427 years  
Eyes : Warm brown  
Hair : Long reddish colored hair that goes to the small of her back with straight bangs and short strands framing her face just below the chin. Her hair is usually in two long pigtails since Nana loves braiding her hair  
Height: 115 cm  
Appearance : Using her small height to her advantage, she dresses much like average little girls would in the human world. As a human, she wears black slip on shoes with white knee high socks and knee-length dress patterned with sakura blossoms and a short fuzzy yellow sweater on top. As a yōkai, she wears a lavender furisode similar to her human clothes, with pink sakura blossoms trailing the hem and edges of the sleeves

A trusted and close confidant of Nana's. She lived in Nana's childhood home when she was young, and decided to stay with her when she grew up and her parents decided to travel. She acts very childish often, though she attempts to act much older. All the members of the Hyakki Yakō refer her as 'big sister,' since she is much older than most of the yōkai in the group. She has a surprising ability with weapons, being able to hide multitude of short-range weapons on her small person. Despite her childish appearance, she has much wisdom and often provides advice to many troubled yōkai. Even other yōkai around the edges of town respect her, even if sometimes they accidentally step on her.

* * *

A/N : Uguu… I got so side-tracked doing this, I didn't do any of the homework that I was supposed to have done… Or my studying… Or my projects… I am so failing school after this ahahaha…

Ahem, anyways, I made quite a bit of changes to this. Actually, I was quite worried I had to delete this whole thing and write it all over again from scratch. Luckily, I didn't have to, but I _did_ have to make changes since Tsuna is friends with Yamamoto. I never noticed, but I kept spelling a few of my OCs' name wrong! Ugh… This is why I don't like adding characters created from my brain. I was reading and thinking, 'who the heck is Kaimu?!' and then I realized. That was the _real_ spelling for his name. And then I derped and changed it in the 'The Sky Revealed by the Night.' And, well, It's kinda late for me to change it now so I'm turning it into 'Kamui.' It can be another bit of plot for the story! Hurrah!

Anyways, I don't know if anyone's noticed it… but I'm going through the story and making some editorial changes. It'll basically be revisions uploaded every week since that's how long it takes me to rethink my plotlines. Especially now that I have to fix the latest one (that chapter 6? think it's 4)


	2. Kitsune

A/N: There is a section here in which Kiyotsugu is explaining what a certain kitsune is. That is an excerpt from a book called _Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance, and Humour_ by _Kiyoshi Nozaki_. It is from the preface, page vii. **I do not own that book, or that except as they both belong to Kiyoshi Nozaki.**

* * *

_Rikuo,_

_There haven't been any more yōkai activities, other than the usual of course. Geeze, they always try to slip that sweet sake you like into my food all the time. If I wasn't paying attention, I'd probably be acting like Zuki-san when she's had a lot of catnip. Kamui-san always scolds me for it, but she's a good yōkai, I think. Anyways, the other day I was patrolling around the town for that yōkai I was telling you about. You know, when I told you about that feeling I got that something was going to happen? Well, it's not important if you do. _

_I was beginning to think it was my imagination, but then Zuki-san seems to have found something in a girl's dream. I've gotten her to draw it the best she can, though I'm sure you wouldn't believe it actually exists. I'm sure it's nothing, but could you ask Great Uncle if he knows something about the yōkai in the picture?_

_Tsuna_

* * *

"Ah, Rikuo!" His grandfather greeted, "What're you doing up so late? Are you finally considering giving up your human life?"

Rikuo, a little taller now than he was as a child, ignored his grandfather as he stared at a piece of paper he held in his hands intently. He was dressed in his sleeping clothes, though he seemed more for staring at the picture all night instead of resting.

"Rikuo?" The old man asked, curious now. "Something the matter?"

Startled, Rikuo nearly crumble the piece of paper in his hands in surprise. He turned to look at his yōkai grandfather, looking rather annoyed. "Geeze, Grandpa. Can't you just walk up to a person like a normal human being?"

The Supreme Commander raised a brow. He actually _had_ acted like a human at that moment. Maybe it was because he didn't go out too much anymore, or maybe Wakana and Rikuo were influencing him a little more than he thought. But he had walked up to his precious grandson without the intent of pranking him, like he usually would. "What's that you're looking at? Another letter from Tsuna-kun?"

The brunet opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated as he didn't quite know how to explain what he was staring at. It certainly _seemed_ like a yōkai, but he just couldn't believe that it could actually exist. Finding that there were no words that would make what he was seeing sound believable, Rikuo stuffed the paper in his grandfather's surprised hands.

The old yōkai took a closer look at the piece of paper, his eyes able to see the image on the paper clearly despite only having light from the flickering candle that sat on Rikuo's desk. Initially, he didn't quite know what he was looking at, as the paper just seemed to be covered in ink splatters. He thought he could catch a faint whiff of catnip clinging to the picture as well. He grunted; it figured that the most abstract artist of all the yōkai would draw something that he had no idea what it might be.

After a few minutes of turning the sheet around, he thought he could see the vague image of an animal from within the inky chaos. Something that appeared to be… a fox? It was much too skinny to be a raccoon, and the pointed features didn't belong to any dog he knew of. And no dog he knew of had more than one tail anyways. Wait… more than one tail? Counting carefully, he could make out six tails on what he assumed to be a fox, though the head didn't seem quite right. Actually, that head looked suspiciously like…

"It looks like a fox, but with the head of a pineapple, am I right?" Rikuo asked dryly.

His grandfather looked up, confused. "Why the hell is that boy sending something like this to you? Obviously, that Zuki had a bit too much catnip. I've already seen enough of watching the Bakeneko clan getting all weird on catnip." He said, grumbling the last bit to himself. He handed the picture back to Rikuo, who stared at it thoughtfully.

"Recently, Tsuna says he's had a feeling that a new yōkai will be in Nanimori soon." He said slowly. "Zuki-san managed to get a glimpse of what the yōkai looks like, though I have no idea what kind of yōkai this could possibly be."

Nurarihyon sat down next to his grandson, closing his eyes and folding his arms in front of his chest as he thought carefully. He wasn't sure, but it was likely that the fox-like creature was a kitsune. And all kitsune fell under the jurisdiction of one yōkai that even he, in his youth, would never dream of attacking.

"If there is someone who would know who that yōkai is, that would be the person who governs over all kitsune." He said finally. "With Zuki's drawing looking like that, I really can't tell if it actually _is _a yōkai or not. For all I know, it could be just a random blob that she painted during a moment of drunkenness."

Grasping onto the only lead he could get, Rikuo asked eagerly, "Then can't you ask if this person knows what that picture is?"

The old yōkai sighed, rather reluctant to disappoint his grandson when he seemed to show so much enthusiasm toward yōkai. If his suspicions were correct, that particular kitsune would be… "It's not that simple. This kind of yōkai is much more… different than other ones that you know of. I'd rather you didn't meet a person like her, anyways."

"Her?" Rikuo repeated, tilting his head to the side a little as his mother would. "The leader of all kitsune is a girl?"

Nurarihyon nodded. "Yes, that's right. She may be female, yet she is much stronger than us. I don't want you ever going against her, as she is much more powerful than any kitsune you will ever encounter in your lifetime. Although…"

"Although what?" Rikuo repeated, wanting to know more. This strange yōkai was more interesting that he had imagined it would be. A pineapple headed kitsune of all things! "Is there something more about the leader of kitsune?"

The yōkai scratched his gourd shaped head idly. "Well, somehow, it seemed that Tsuna's mother managed to become friends with her for some odd reason. I have no idea how she accomplished such a thing, but she did."

"Then would Aunty know about where the leader of kitsune is?" Rikuo asked, itching to write a reply to Tsuna immediately. He was disappointed when his grandfather shook his head again.

Nurarihyon sighed and leaned his head against his hand. "For one thing, that kitsune is like our type, in a way. She'll be found only if she _wants _to be found, not before. Even the kitsune she rules over have no idea where she is at any point in time. She just appears out of nowhere, and then disappears for years on end. I have no idea if she's even alive right now or not."

Now, Rikuo appeared crestfallen. "So then there's no way of finding out any information on this person?" He gestured to the picture that now lay on the table.

His grandfather sighed, "I'm afraid not. Now, it's getting late. If you're planning on going to school, you'd better get some rest. I'll see you in the morning." He ruffled his grandson's hair, causing the boy to protest lightly, then shuffled out of the room to find some decent sake somewhere.

Rikuo looked out after his grandfather, watching the old man's shadow created by the moonlight disappear as he continued his way down the hall. He turned back to the paper in front of him, and his eyes became set. If his grandfather didn't know anything else about the leader of kitsune, then maybe there was someone who did…

"_Are you thinking of talking to Kiyotsugu?"_ A familiar deep voice asked. Rikuo already knew who it would be sitting next to him without turning around.

"There's no one else who would know enough and tell me about it." Rikuo replied, and paused. "What do you think of the yōkai?"

His yōkai self chuckled, "_That little fox? What's there to think about? Tsuna is trustworthy. I'm sure he can take care of himself just fine._"

Rikuo hummed in reply. "I know that, but this fox… It gives me a bad feeling. I've never met a yōkai like this before…"

The brunet heard the sounds of movement, and turned to see his Night form walking out of the room. "Where are you going?"

His white and black haired self stopped, and turned his head slightly. "_I'll let you rest for tonight. If you're going to talk to him, you'll need all the energy you can get."_ He chuckled, and vanished.

Staring at where his Night form had stood, Rikuo sighed and turned back to the drawing. He wanted to go and rest, but he thought he should make a reply back to Tsuna. It wouldn't do if this yōkai was actually a threat and Rikuo didn't tell him any information he might have needed.

* * *

Rikuo yawned as he made his way toward school. He had stayed up late making a reply to Tsuna, and had asked Karasu to send it early the next morning. He wouldn't have worried so much, as there were many yōkai in the Nura clan territory who were not affiliated with them. But this strange new yōkai in Nanimori… Seemed a lot different than most of the other weak yōkai that was usually found around town. Tsuna's strange feeling never came up before toward a yōkai, and it worried him that this strange unusual yōkai was one that no one seemed to know about. He just hoped that nothing bad would happen in Nanimori. There was still another month until Golden Week, so he wouldn't be able to go and help him.

"Rikuo-kun!"

The brunet turns around to see his neighbor and childhood friend, Ienaga Kana, run up next to him. "Ah, good morning, Kana-chan!"

"Morning, Rikuo-kun!" She greeted with a smile on her face. It was quickly swept away as she stared intently at Rikuo's face. He tried to keep the panic down; there wasn't anything to indicate he was a yōkai, was there? Oh, he would be _so _doomed if someone found out right now, at this moment. Other yōkai leaders might—

"You seem a little tired today," Kana commented, not noticing Rikuo's internal conflict.

Instantly, Rikuo gave a nervous laugh. "Haha, er, right. I had a lot of homework last night, so I had to stay up late!" He said, his voice going rather high and nearly at breaking point.

Now growing suspicious, Kana leaned in close to Rikuo, examining him closely. He gulped nervously, wondering when had he gotten so jumpy. "Your voice… Did it crack just now?" She said finally.

"Er, um, yes—I mean no!" The agitated brunet said, clearing his voice and trying to make it sound deeper. "I have a –ahem—cough, so my throat feels kind of sore today."

Kana sighed, having had gone through this many times. "Rikuo-kun, we're friends. If something's wrong, you can tell me, you know that." She said in a scolding tone, though she stopped for a moment before adding, "As long as it has nothing to do with yōkai or scary things, I'd rather not hear about them!"

This brought a real smile on Rikuo's face, making Kana turn a light blush. "Thanks, Kana-chan. It's nothing really, Grandpa just kept me up last night telling me about yōkai stories he heard when he was a kid, that's all." He said, opting for a half lie. It would work since he mentioned 'yōkai' anyways.

And exactly as he thought, Kana turned pale and started to make up excuses, saying that she had some homework she wanted to ask the teacher about. Rikuo watched her amusedly as she ran off toward the school oddly quickly for just 'asking about homework.'

"Young Master!"

Rikuo nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard a familiar voice call for him. He turned around slowly, giving a reprimanding stare to the owner of the voice. His two aides caught up to him, and didn't seem to even notice that people on the street were giving them strange looks.

"How many times have I told you, not to call me 'Young Master' while we're at school!" He seethed, scolding the girl who had called him once again. "I don't want people to find out that you guys are yōkai, got it? That means you both call me 'Rikuo' while we're in school!"

The girl stared at him with her wide blue ringed eyes. Rikuo noted that she didn't even appear apologetic for nearly blowing Rikuo's long-kept secret so easily like this. It wasn't that Rikuo would have particularly minded, but it was easier to protect the humans if they believed the brunet to be one as well, as well as protecting his identity from enemy yōkai if they came after him as well. Though they could easily find out his identity from careless mistakes that yōkai like his aides made.

"Young Master," The taller and scarier looking teen standing behind the girl started, but stopped at a glare. He started again slowly, "Rikuo-sama, it would be easier if you just remained at home. There are many dangers in the human world; it's our duty to keep you safe."

"And Tsuna and I made a vow that we would protect both yōkai and humans. I'm not going back on that promise." Rikuo said clearly, his eyes sharpening and fixing them with the stare that reminded the pair so much of his father. "As the future Master of all spirits, I won't be letting these loose yōkai roam around my territory freely." He said softly, making sure that no one heard him.

Unfortunately, someone did as Rikuo could feel an arm wrap around his neck. "Goood morning, Nura! I thought I heard you say something about 'yōkai,' mind telling me what that was about?" A deep voice asked, his voice too familiar for Rikuo to ever forget.

"K-Kiyotsugu! M-Morning!" Rikuo stammered out. "Er, yōkai? Are you sure you heard correctly?"

Rikuo cringed as Kiyotsugu's booming voice blared through his ears. He swore that one day; he would probably go deaf due to the rich boy. "Of course I did! I hear everything that involves the great Master of all Yōkai! The great Emperor of the Night! My great idol! I'm sure I've told you of him before?"

Knowing that if he didn't reply quickly, he'd be going through a long story about himself, he nodded and swiftly changed the topic. "Of course, I have. Where's Shima-kun today? He's usually with you, isn't he?"

"Oh, did you forget? Shima-kun's gone off to a soccer tournament for a few days." The wavy haired boy replied, momentarily forgetting about his idol. "Oh, by the way, I have something to tell everyone later. So make sure you're in class during the free period!" With a flashy wave, the boisterous teen walked off with that recognizable laughter of his.

"You know," The girl said as Kiyotsugu left, "I'm sure that person wouldn't mind if he finds his 'Master of all Yōkai.'"

Rikuo sighed, turning around to face the two of them. "Tsurara, we've been over this. I'm not going to repeat myself. Come on; we're going to be late for school."

* * *

Once lunch break was started, Rikuo got up to go over to the classroom next door, where Kiyotsugu was. He hadn't even reached the door yet, and he could already hear the teen's ringing laughter. He walked out into the hallway, making sure to check that Tsurara, the girl from earlier, wasn't following him. Certainly, the brunet was glad that he had people that were so trusting of him, but he wanted to find this out for himself.

He had managed to put his hand on the door when a feminine voice called him from down the hallway behind him. He turned around to see Kana walking towards him, curious. "A-Ah! Kana-chan!" Rikuo said, jumping away from the door as if it bit him.

Kana gave him a strange look, asking, "Are you visiting the other class? I thought you would be helping around in the school right now…"

"Ah, er, right! But, um…" Rikuo stammered, trying to come up with a believable excuse. He knew that she would somehow know that he was lying, but he'd rather not get the yōkai back at the house suspicious about what he was doing. He wanted to help Tsuna with his own strength, to make up for his current inability to transform at the moment. He suddenly became _very_ aware of Kiyotsugu's familiar voice booming just behind the door. Before either of the two could say a word, the door slammed open revealing the forceful person that would drag anyone with an ear to their doo—listen to _wonderful _tales of yōkai that Kiyotsugu discovered.

"Nura-kun!" Kiyotsugu boomed, causing both Kana and Rikuo to wince at the volume. "I thought I heard you out here; come in here, there's something I want to talk to you about!"

Knowing full well of Kiyotsugu's (un)healthy obsession with anything involving yōkai, Kana tried to inch away, but was spotted the minute she tried to flee. "Ienaga-kun! What a surprise! Come along, you'll be coming too, right? You know what they say; the more the merrier!" He laughed as he dragged both the extremely reluctant Rikuo and Kana into the classroom.

Inside, most of the people in the class had fled the room as everyone was already exasperated from hearing three years of nothing but yōkai and superstitions from Kiyotsugu. While many of them still considered him very blessed to be born with the looks and the large amount of wealth, none of them were willing to go close the teen and hear anymore about the tale of how the Lord of all Yōkai saved him from a large amount of tree yōkai back on that field trip three years ago.

Despite the stories, however, there _were_ three other individuals that were willing to stay and tolerate Kiyotsugu's stories. Shima Jirō, a boy that was a childhood friend and a strong supporter of Kiyotsugu. In a way, the two had a kind of relationship that Rikuo had with his aides, albeit the two boys were both humans. The other two were Torii Natsumi and Maki Saori. The two girls were both friends from childhood, and held a close bond that Rikuo knew not many had. The brunet supposed it was similar to his relationship with Zen and Tsuna. Currently Jirō was at a soccer tournament outside of Ukiyoe, leaving only Natsumi and Saori to listen to Kiyotsugu's stories.

Rikuo was brought out of his daydreaming when he noticed that Kiyotsugu was now standing in front of him calling his name. "Oi, Nura-kun!"

"Ah, yes!" Rikuo stammered, nearly standing up in surprise.

"Were you even paying attention? You had this glazed look in your eye…" The other boy said, looking at Rikuo rather suspiciously.

Knowing if that the yōkai obsessed teen thought that he was 'unmotivated' toward finding the person whom he idolized he'd be listening to stories until the moon was high in the sky, Rikuo quickly blurted out what was on his mind. "I was just thinking about this yōkai that I recently heard about!" He noticed too late that he said it a bit too loud, and now everyone in the room was staring at him. "Erm, I mean, it's nothing really. Just this rumor that I heard on the way to school."

Upon hearing that, Kiyotsugu's eyes sparkled like the way it usually did when he spoke of yōkai, though it still paled in comparison to the way he spoke of his idol, the Commander of all Yōkai. "A rumor? What was it? Does it have anything to do with my Ruler of the Night?" He said, pushing himself closer to Rikuo with every word.

"W-Well, no, at least, I don't think so." Rikuo said, trying to put some distance between them. "It was about a yōkai that I heard from my grandfather this morning. A kitsune."

Instantly, the messy haired teen lost interest and moved away. He muttered, "A kitsune? Che, they have nothing to do with my Emperor of the Night."

"Kitsune…" Rikuo turned around to look at Kana, "What is that? I've never heard of that before…"

From where Natsumi was sitting with Saori, she spoke up, "Hmm~ Isn't a kitsune something like a fox spirit or something?"

With tears in his eyes, Kiyotsugu exclaimed, "Torii-san! My teaching is finally paying off!"

"Kiyotsugu-kun, what do you know about the kitsune…?" Rikuo asked, hoping to take advantage of the situation.

Appalled, Kiyotsugu whirled on the surprised brunet. "What's this? You don't know about them? You used to speak of yōkai all the time! How could you not know about the infamous kitsune?!"

"Well if you could stop yelling about how we don't know about these 'kitsune,' you can start telling us what they are." Saori said disinterestedly as she inspected her nails.

"Kitsune," Kiyotsugu began, "Is an animal supposed to be mysterious, fascinating, and mischevious. And he is believed to be very grateful for the kindness done to him, as seen in many tales, and is also affectionate as revealed in some dramas. He is enshrined as a god because of his supernatural power. He is endowed with the subtle art of metamorphosis, and he is able to bewitch men in the guise of a charming girl."

Saori raised her hand, and asked, "When you talk about kitsune, did you say that boy kitsune impersonate girls?"

The yōkai expert nodded. "I did. It is a known fact that kitsune are rather effeminate, though to which degree varies with each kitsune. None can match their masculinity as the Lord of the Night!" Kiyotsugu boomed, as he abruptly changed the subject.

Saori rolled her eyes as she sighed, pulling out a magazine to keep up with the latest trends while Natsumi looked over her shoulder. Kana looked rather confused and had a slightly frightened look that she had whenever yōkai or other scary things were brought into a conversation. Rikuo had figured that she should have been used to it by now, since she seemed to be able to listen to Kiyotsugu's stories well enough. He was considering on leaving it and finding out more at the main house, but none of the seemed to have the amount of information that Kiyotsugu always seemed to have, despite the many years they lived longer than everyone in the room combined.

"Kiyotsugu-kun…" Rikuo started, but paused. How was he supposed to ask about a kitsune that had two different eye colours? "Have you heard about any kind of kitsune… That had different eye colours? Like, blue and red for example?"

The sharp eyed boy didn't catch the brunet's nervousness, as he was thinking through all the legends concerning kitsune that he had read over the years. There wasn't much on the different kinds of kitsune that existed, as he wasn't too concerned on those. But a kitsune with a blue and red eye… "There is one story I've heard about a kitsune that fit that description, but it's really old, so I don't know much about it." Kiyotsugu hummed as he thought.

Rikuo pounced on it like a dog to fresh meat, seeing as this was the best lead he would likely get. "Really? What is it?" He asked eagerly, getting a strange look from Kiyotsugu.

"You seem really into the kitsune, Nura-kun." He said, his hand going to his chin, "Any special reasons?"

"Oh, um, not really!" The young Nura clan heir replied, "I-I just was curious, that's all. My grandfather always told me to stay away from foxes, but I didn't know why."

"Is that so," Kiyotsugu replied, crossing his arms. "Well, not all kitsune are bad, actually. They don't have a concept of 'good' or 'evil' that people like us have. What they believe is 'right' and 'wrong' depends on their own beliefs, as well as many other factors. However, those do not apply to the kitsune you were asking about."

Kana interrupted their deep conversation from the side. "It doesn't apply? Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, it doesn't have the restriction of being held by an element, region, or any other things that binds a kitsune. There are very few that are not within those rules, and those kitsune tend to be very powerful yōkai."

Now Rikuo's attention was fully captured. If what Kiyotsugu was saying was right, then there _was_ a suspicious yōkai that was hiding somewhere in Nanimori. But he had to know more, there wasn't nearly enough information to find this kitsune. "Tell us some more of this kitsune." He urged, trying to hear of the story.

"Really now, since when was kitsune so popular. People should by idolizing the Lord of the Night." Kiyotsugu muttered crossly, his voice sounding slightly whiny. "Alright, listen up. I'll only be telling you once, and that's it." He gave a withering stare at Kana and Rikuo, making sure that they wouldn't interrupt him as he told them what he knew. Once he was sure they would stay quiet, he began to speak, his voice picking up much enthusiasm as he went along.

"In yōkai legend, there is one kitsune who stands above the rest. She is known as 'the Lady,' and is the most powerful kitsune of their entire race, since she is the only being that has a thousand tails. There are no others who have as many, as the most any other kitsune can gain is nine. The Lady is also the mother of the kitsune race, and they all serve her in one way or another. In the story that I heard somewhere, there was one son that she bore that was more powerful than any other kitsune she had given birth to. Somehow, he gained a power that allowed him to die at the end of every hundred years, and return from Hell with a new tail and power. For hundreds of years, he managed to continue this cycle, and the rest of the kitsune left him to do it. They didn't care that he did so, so long as he did not disrupt the delicate balance they maintained within the mortal realm they lived in. This changed one day, when he decided to commit the forbidden and possess a yōkai body."

"Kitsune weren't allowed to take over other yōkai?" Kana asked, confused. She had constantly heard from childhood that all yōkai were evil, and possession was an easily and often done act.

Kiyotsugu didn't seem to mind the interruption, as he was too much into his element to care. "No, kitsune were mainly a neutral race. They would permit kitsune who did not keep the balance to do whatever they wanted, so long as it did not destroy what they had worked for so long to keep. For the most part, every kitsune obeyed this one law. However, the Lady's son had become corrupted from the time he had spent in hell. None of the kitsune were aware, but the son plotted to destroy the kitsune race, and overthrow the rule of 'right' and 'wrong' that the kitsune tried so hard to balance in the world. The Lady, whom loved all her children equally, decided to visit him after he had recently returned from Hell with his sixth tail, along with the enhanced power of possession as well. He knew that if he wanted to go with his plan, he would have to use his mother to eliminate the other kitsune. He attempted to take over her body, feeling overconfident and believing that he would easily be able to take over a yōkai that had existed for over a millennia. However, the Lady was able to easily repel his attack, as her power had never diminished through the ages. She despaired at the dark path her son had fallen onto, but knew she would have to banish her beloved son to a realm where he would never be able to attack their kind again."

Everyone sat in the room, silent for a long while as they absorbed the information. Rikuo fought to keep the relief from showing on his face as he now knew that Tsuna's fear was groundless, and the yōkai was most likely just a figment of his imagination.

"If the fox's brat was so bad, why didn't she just kill him?" Saori asked from the side, her magazine laying on the desk beside her.

"Well, a mother's bond with her child is very strong, you know?" Natsumi said beside her, "I would have been surprised if she killed her son, even if he was bad."

"H-He stayed in that realm, r-right?"

Rikuo turned around, and was surprised (though he really shouldn't by now) to see that Kana was now pale and shaking slightly, her obvious fear toward scary things showing. Rikuo wasn't quite sure why she was scared; it wasn't very frightening in his opinion.

"No, he didn't."

Surprised once again, Rikuo whipped his head around to look at Kiyotsugu. The tall raven haired boy looked at him thoughtfully. "Her son was much more powerful than she had believed him to be, and he managed to escape thousands of years later, once the seal was weakened. Supposedly, he is roaming around our world, seeking revenge against all who had wronged him."

"What about his blue and red eyes? It doesn't explain how he managed to gain them." Rikuo asked.

Kiyotsugu shrugged, his attention now wavering away from the continuous talk of kitsune. "Allegedly, the Lady cursed him so that he lost all his memories of his time as a yōkai, and replaced them with human memories. She had hoped that maybe he would be more merciful towards humans and be more willing to keep the balance within the world. To symbolize his former status as a kitsune, she changed his eye like that so that other yōkai would know how he is, and would leave him to his human life until he was ready."

Rikuo sat, absorbing the information within his mind. It fit that this person would appear in dreams to be a fox like creature with a red and blue eye, but the pineapple shaped head just didn't make any sense. Just what did pineapples have to do with a yōkai that lived for over a thousand years, be cursed by the most powerful yōkai of his race, and punished to live as a human? He decided it would be best to ask his grandfather for any more information on the Lady. If she was still around, then maybe she could help them find out what this kitsune was planning, and how to stop him.

He became faintly aware of eyes watching him, and shot his head up with an annoyed stare. He glanced toward the door, where he saw two dark shapes quickly dart out of view. It was already bad enough that his aides followed him everywhere at home, but couldn't he get any privacy while he was a school as a human?! It wasn't as if there was someone coming after his life as a human, anyways.

Knowing he had to end the conversation quickly before his aides found out too much, Rikuo tried to steer the conversation in a new direction. "A-Ah, Kiyotsugu-kun, you said earlier that you wanted to talk to me about something."

Face brightening, the forceful teen grinned broadly in a way that Rikuo knew that he wasn't going to like what Kiyotsugu wanted to say. "Of course! Thank you for reminding me!"

He somehow raised his voice even louder, making Rikuo wonder if the whole school could hear his voice. He wouldn't be surprised; he was even louder than Zen when the bird yōkai was in a rage. "I am now officially forming the Kiyo Cross Supernatural Investigation Squad!" He declared triumphantly, striking a dramatic pose. "Of course, this means that everyone in the room is a member, and Shima-kun will be joining us once he returns from the soccer tournament, and then we will begin out investigation!"

"Eh? Investigation? School just started and Golden Week is in another two weeks." Saori complained, instantly not liking the idea of dealing with the supernatural. Natsumi agreed wholeheartedly. "Yeah, we'll just stay here. The weather's finally getting nice here too, good for going out to check out the new line of clothes."

Kiyotsugu slyly added, "We'll be heading to Nanimori to wait for Shima-kun before leaving for the investigation."

Instantly, both girl's eyes began to sparkle. "Kyaa~ Nanimori? That town has the best deals with the latest clothing!" Natsumi squealed, imagining all the new clothes she could buy there. Saori was way ahead of her, heading toward the door to begin packing.

Unlike the other three, who seemed rather enthusiastic to go, Kana and Rikuo were more reluctant. Kana didn't like being frightened at all, and didn't relish the idea of going anywhere near where yōkai might lurk. On the other hand, Rikuo was worried about the strange yōkai there. Strange things tended to happen when yōkai were involved, though hopefully Nana or Tsuna would be able to do something about it. He had become grown stronger since his time at Tōno, but he didn't know if it was enough to defeat a powerful yōkai, especially if they came out during the day unexpectedly.

"K-Kiyotsugu, is this really a good idea? I mean, the teachers won't like us leaving when the year has just started, and we'll be missing all the first lessons. I don't want to be missing that right now." Kana said, voicing her concerns. "If a test comes up when we get back, we won't be able to pass."

Not even hesitating for a moment, Kiyotsugu laughed it off. "You didn't hear, Ienaga-kun? Apparently, a murder happened a few weeks ago, and the police have no idea who it is."

"W-Well yeah, I heard that b-but what does that have to do with…?" Kana mumbled, not liking where this was going.

"There was another murder last night from what I've heard, but they haven't released it to the public yet," Kiyotsugu whispered conspiratorially, "the school is deciding to declare a week off because of it, and the fact it was a few blocks from school."

"What?!" Kana shrieked, grabbing onto Rikuo's arm and holding onto it with a death grip. "H-H-How do you know?"

Rather than being worried and taking Kana's fear into consideration, Kiyotsugu laughed it off. "I have my connections. My family is very influential, after all. If I need to find something, I'll find it."

Rikuo wanted to keep his friends in Ukiyoe where they would be safe with his aides around, but it would be hard to convince Kiyotsugu of an, admittedly, opportune time. Despite wanting to keep the humans safe from unbelievable danger, he also wanted to help Tsuna with his situation. With what little he learned here, it was vital for him to tell Tsuna and find out where the Lady was currently, and deal with the problem.

However, he wasn't even sure how much he could help in dealing with a kitsune. The neither of the boys had ever encountered such a creature, and there were not many yōkai around with mastery over illusions. Hopefully, the aides that followed Rikuo around would be able to tend to whatever problem happened and protect the humans.

Well, as long as there were no girls that took a sudden interest in the young heir, anyways.

"When are we going?" Rikuo asked tiredly, knowing that there was no way to escape when Kiyotsugu put his mind to something.

Kiyotsugu smirked, and gave his booming trademark laugh that rang through everyone's ears. "Haha, I knew you'd come around, Nura-kun! Better go and get ready soon; we'll be leaving in less than a week!"

* * *

"Welcome home, young Master! How was your day at school today?" Nattō Kozō asked as he went by, but was ignored by the young heir as he stomped past him. The yōkai in the hall looked at each other in surprise and suspicion. "Did one of you go around in town as a yōkai again?"

"No way! Not after the last time he chewed us out!" One protested, grumblingly. "You know how long it took until he allowed me sake again? I'm not gonna risk that again."

Several of the yōkai around grunted agreeably, all having had faced the boy's wrath at some point or another. Despite being part yōkai himself, Rikuo never took part in the yōkai games everyone else seemed to take part in. As much as he liked the yōkai world, he couldn't find it in himself to fit in with the others. Every single one of them were full-blooded yōkai with superior strength and battle experience that he lacked so far.

So what had the brunet up in a huff?

"Ah, Rikuo-kun! Are you alright? You seem upset." Wakana greeted her son as she passed him in the hall, making his pause mid-stride.

"I'm home, Mom." He said swiftly, flashing her a brief smile. "Do you know where Grandpa is? I need to talk to him about something."

"Your grandfather is in a meeting right now, just a regular checkup. I'm sure he'll be done soon. Why don't you have a snack right now while you wait?" The brunette woman suggested, pushing her son towards the kitchen. "I'm sure someone would be happy to make something up for you."

Despite his protests, Wakana cheerily ignored them as they made their way over to the kitchen area of the mansion, away from where Nurarihyon was holding his meeting.

"_Don't you think it's strange_," Rikuo's night form commented as they went along, looking back at the meeting hall, "_that they're holding another meeting when they just had one a few weeks ago? They usually hold one every month, but this seems suspicious…_"

Rikuo nodded, silently agreeing with him. 'But I don't know what we can do about it. And I guess it can wait… Kiyotsugu said we would be leaving in a few days. That's plenty of time to make plans to keep them all safe.'

"_Speaking of Kiyotsugu,_" the yōkai said amusedly, "_he hasn't changed from those four years ago. He reminds me of an energetic puppy._"

'I told you not to show off like that. We're lucky that we didn't get caught. He's smarter than you think, you know.' Rikuo grumbled, still a little annoyed after four years.

"_It's my first appearance in the yōkai world. You think I don't want to stake my claim for the title of Third? It's our right, you know._" The other replied with a smirk.

The brunet took a glance back to the meeting hall. 'I wonder when he'll give us the title of Third. It's been four years now, but he's never officially declared it to the others.' He said.

Both parts of the same being looked back again, suspicions ticking in their mind as Wakana pushed them onward until they were bombarded with yōkai when they reached the kitchen.

* * *

"No, no, no! I still say that Tsunayoshi-sama should take up the title!" A leader snarled as he slammed a fist on his knee. "It would make more sense if he does, look how powerful Rihan-sama was in his time!"

Another one rose up to the declaration, retorting, "That was because he had human blood in his veins! It should be Rikuo-sama to become the heir; he has all the traits required and more human blood!"

"That boy is too caring of humans! He has even more human traits; he would be a very weak yōkai! There's absolutely no way we can allow him to become the next Supreme Commander!" Another roared.

Nurarihyon had a rather glass-eyed look on his face as he picked his nose, long ago zoned out from the conversation once he brought up the current topic of discussion. Honestly, was it really so hard to decide who it was to become the next Supreme Commander? Rikuo was his flesh and blood grandson after all, and he was the one who stated his desire to take up the title. Tsuna had even told Rikuo and Zen that he didn't want the title, and would be just as happy helping them out. As much as he liked the yōkai realm, he found himself too frightened of the scary-looking yōkai to be in command of them.

Oh, if the boy only knew what was coming for him.

"Supreme Commander! Which one would you choose?!" All the yōkai leaders roared, their eyes staring aggressively on him.

Rather annoyed that _now_ they asked his opinion, the old yōkai let out his **Fear**. "You brats," Nurarihyon growled, "I already told you who I wanted as my heir. My grandson already said he wanted to become the Third! Why do we need to argue more about this? He's already turned into a yōkai before. He has the capability of controlling yōkai."

"Yes, the time on the mountain." A yōkai snorted, clearing ashes from his kiseru. "We've all heard the story many times, but how can we believe it when we've never heard it? There are plenty of tales the humans tell of us, and not even half of them are true anymore."

There were mutters of agreement, and the yōkai went on. "We agree you've declared you choice, but we need reason to accept it. The tree yōkai that Rikuo-sama allegedly killed was already a rogue, and not a part of any clan. I doubt that anyone here even remembers who those yōkai were, they could easily be someone we could squash without **Fear** if even a child could do it!"

Before another argument could begin for who knows how long, Nurarihyon held up a hand to get everyone's attention. "Alright, alright. I can see that this hasn't gone anywhere. A lot like every time," he said grumbling the last bit to himself. "We'll talk about it again next month during the next General Meeting."

The leaders of their respective factions bit their proper farewells to their leader before leaving, either going back home with their own power or through some other means of transportation. Many had decided to go home through other means, as it had become something of a competition to see who had the most magnificent way of travelling home, something that could spark a strong feeling of fear into whoever saw them. Quite frankly, Nurarihyon was starting to see it as ridiculous as it was taking up a rather large amount of space in his courtyard when they came to pick up their masters. "Get outta here, you bunch of idiots! You think this is a stable or something?!" The yōkai fumed, shaking his fists at them. He snorted, seeing some of the younger ones move a bit more hurriedly as they left. "Bunch of greenhorns."

"You do happen to be the Supreme Commander of them all." A voice said next to him, a subordinate of Nurarihyon's from the old times. "They know well enough of your power. Of course they would be afraid if you got angry."

Nurarihyon grinned roguishly. "You got that right, Gyūki. But you would know best about how far my wrath goes. After all, I kicked your ass good back in the day, haha!" He laughed, letting the memories of back when he was still an up-and-coming yōkai still forming his Hyakki Yakō, and he still was whole. The years he had spent in his life before he met his Yōhime, and had settled down becoming the Lord of all Spirits in Tokyo.

"That you did." Gyūki agreed, closing his eyes and allowing a small smile to cross his face.

The leader and subordinate were silent as the rest of the faction leaders left to their respective territories, leaving just Nurarihyon and Gyūki standing in the courtyard.

"Well, why don't you have supper for the night here? I wanted to discuss something with you." The old yōkai suggested, gesturing to the house. "I'm sure there still some stock of sake I've hidden somewhere where those idiots haven't raided yet. I'll probably have to go and get some more soon, though."

The stoic yōkai smiled amusedly before he accepted the invitation. "I would be honored. It's been a while since I've last eaten here."

A thoughtful look crossed the shorter yōkai's face at the words. "Ah, it hasn't, hasn't it? Since Tsunayoshi-kun and Nana was last here, I believe. Hm, that must've been four years ago. Well, not that it's a long time for us. We've already lived for more than a hundred years."

"And you still miss her, even more so as time goes by." The yōkai replied sagely, knowing Nurarihyon better than many others. After Yōhime's death, Nurarihyon had been truly saddened and it was because his Hyakki Yakō and son were still around he managed to recover and entrust Rihan with the mantle of Second. He had realized after his wife had departed that he wasn't the same yōkai that he had been all those years ago when he still had his youth with him. He had decided that with his subordinates all controlling their own Hyakki Yakō and his son all grown up, it was best to step down and allow the younger generation to take control of the new era.

He became a much more lax man after that, enjoying the simple pleasures of fishing in the river and drinking sake in the moonlight. He also enjoyed any mischievous plans his son planned and allowed him a part in, as it allowed a little bit of excitement he enjoyed in his life. When he had finally become old and his grandson was finally born, he felt he had become more of a family man than the powerful yōkai he had been all those centuries ago. Sometimes, he wondered if they were all but a wistful dream.

"Of course." Nurarihyon replied, letting a rare moment of sadness flit across his features before he shook his head, as though to drive the memory away. "But that is in the past, and I'm sure my adorable grandson is waiting to see us. Have you seen him lately? He's grown so tall now…"

* * *

Name : Kamui  
Species : Formerly an animal yūrei (ghost); currently an ocean yōkai

Age: 262 years  
Eyes : Ocean blue  
Hair Appearance : Long sleek gray with a part of his hair that seems to go up like a Mohawk, and start drooping backwards  
Height : 172.5 cm  
Appearance (in general) : Appears gruff looking and has the type of aura that says 'Back off!' though the yōkai all know better. His posture is usually seen as tense, and people often mistake him for a delinquent, much to his chagrin. Fortunately, he has the strength to defend himself and beat back the attackers, though he is rather weak when the sun is bright and hot.

A former yūrei (ghost) of a creature from the sea. He held a strong attachment to a human back when he was alive, as he had caught Kamui by chance, but released him despite being unable to catch anything for weeks. In gratitude, Kamui helped the human to find places where there were much fish, and the human became wealthy. But one day, a pirate ship came and noticed the human had much valuable fish that they knew would fetch a _lot_ of money in other villages. They then killed the human, and captured Kamui as a valuable pet/emergency food source/_very_ valuable food stuff. They continually tortured Kamui until he finally died, with Kamui haunting them continuously until each of the pirates died. Nana eventually found him during her own travels, and Kamui saw the human he had helped before in her. He decided to travel with her, and decided to follow her as he found her goal was to protect the ones that needed protecting while staying away from any position of power.

* * *

A/N : And that is the edit for this one. I didn't think I would finish so quickly, but it seems I have, so I decided to add the new chapter 1 and chapter 2 in. Please look forward to the new chapter 3 and maybe others next week.


	3. Punishment

The day was very pleasant for April, when the norm was rain as it should be. Cold and bone-chilling rain that made the day insufferable and keeping people in their homes where it was warm and comfortable. However, today was a rare beautiful day where the sun could warm one's back pleasantly and the sunlight wasn't too blinding. There was still a chill that hung in the air as it should be early in spring, but it was bearable enough that a person could go around without a jacket. A light breeze blew through Nanimori park, softly brushing past the newly made leaves as they whispered their welcome. The soft rustle made a pair of white car ears twitch, and a head with bleached white and pink streaked hair shifted. The ears stilled momentarily, before the owner of the feline ears awoke to the fresh new day.

Zuki yawned widely, her sharpened canines glinting in the small stream of sunlight that filtered through the tree. She looked down from the branch was sleeping on sleepily, observing her surroundings before arching her back like the cat that she was. "Nyaa~" She mewed contently, "I wonder what Tsunayoshi-kun is doing today…"

Her long tails, colored white and pink like her hair, swished back and forth, curling around each other before separating, then swishing back and forth again. "Hm, and there's also _that_ matter to tell him and Na-chan." She purred. The bakeneko sighed as she watched the world below her as she considered her choices of what to do for the day. As it was a Saturday, there wasn't any school, so there was no point in getting ready. That left the option of staying in the tree and sleeping the day away, or fetching some entertainment she was sure was at the Sawada household. "Not like it's a hard choice." Zuki chuckled, a smile curling around the edges of her lips.

She swung her legs over the side of the branch, much like she was getting out of a bed, and jumped off. She landed on the ground perfectly, as she always did, before walking off the direction of the Sawada household. Since today would just be a trip to house, she didn't find any real reason to stay in her human form. So instead of wearing the uniform that identified her as a student of Nanimori middle school, she dressed in some cute casual clothes that she had seen some girls in Tsuna's grade wear when they went out. Of course, this was done using her abilities of illusion as she didn't physically own the clothes. She found it much easier to just change on the go. She changed her shirt into a white hooded short-sleeved top with a cat's face printed on the front, and wore loose fitting capris that were dark gray in colour. Since it didn't seem like it was going to be raining any time soon, a pair of flip-flops appeared at her feet. Satisfied with her appearance, she took off from the park she had been sleeping in. She ignored the strange looks of people as they passed her by. It wasn't that they had noticed her abrupt change her clothes, rather, it was that a young girl just suddenly jumped out of the tree like it was the most natural thing in the world. Well, it was to Zuki.

For the most part, her trip to the Sawada household was uneventful. There were a few times that some human boys tried talking to her and "persuade" her to accompany them to other places, but they were dealt with minimum injuries. Nana and Tsuna were no fun to tease when they were upset because she hurt the humans they valued so much. Humming a tuneless melody to herself as she walked down the street, the house had just barely come into view when she could hear Tsuna screeching about something involving rabid rabbits chasing him. Zuki smiled; Tsuna never failed to amuse her with his reactions and personality, despite being a hanyō.

As she came closer, she could hear Tsuna's screaming much more clearly, as well as other yōkai who were at the house currently yelling along with him. As usual, Nana's voice wasn't heard, though Zuki knew she was watching them with amusement somewhere while drinking some sake. By the time she reached the door, she heard Tsuna scream from the other side, "I GOT THEM! ALL THE RABBITS ARE TRAPPED IN THE FRONT HALL! NOBODY OPEN THE DOOR!"

"Rabbits, hmm~?" Zuki purred, the corners of her lips curving devilishly. She quietly opened the door just a bit, and stepped off to the side as a horde of fluffy white bunnies with oversized claws and fangs raced out the door. They weren't exactly small either, as they were all at least the size of a small dog, and some were as large as a cow. As a rabbit towering above the rest raced out the door, she called out, "Thanks for the help, Usa-chan~!"

The rabbit paused for a moment to turn and look at the cat yōkai, flashing her a wink before racing off and calling back in a high pitched voice, "No problem, call if Tsuna-chan wants to play again!"

Zuki watched the rabbit yōkai disappear back into the woods before wiping the smile off her face as she turned back to the door where a disheveled Tsuna was glaring at her tiredly. "Zuki?!" He exclaimed, "Why did you open the door like that?! Now I'll have to chase all the rabbits!" He groaned, stuffing his face into his hands.

"I came to get some breakfast~!" Zuki chirped, jumping onto Tsuna and rubbing her head against his cheek. He wrinkled his nose a little as a bit of Zuki's fur hidden in her hair came off, but left it at that. He was used to this treatment for so long, he knew better than to try to shove her off. "What do you feel like eating today?" He asked tiredly as he dragged the both of them inside. He would just have to ask someone to deal with the rabbits until Zuki had left.

After much struggling, Tsuna managed to get into the kitchen, since Zuki had decided to jump into his arms and force him to carry her to the kitchen, all the while still rubbing her head against his face. "Mama," Tsuna said, exasperated, "Can't you keep your subordinates under control?"

"Oh, Tsu-kun," his mother tittered from the stove, "That's just their way of showing their affection for you. Besides, Zuki only acts that way towards you."

"Yeah, well—Can you just get her off me already?! My arms are starting to hurt!" He complained, his body starting to shake under the strain.

Zuki huffed, and got off of the boy gracefully. "I give you a hug, and this is how you repay me? I'm rather hurt, Tsunayoshi-kun." She pouted.

"That was not a hug! That was a—you know—Ugh, I give up!" He cried, and stomped out of the kitchen to go back up to his room. "I'm going to start cleaning my room before the others get here." He called back, stomping his way up the stairs.

Once Tsuna's door was heard to slam shut, Nana turned to give Zuki a look as she raised her brow. "So?" She said simply.

"'So' what?" Zuki replied, acting as if she had no idea what she was talking about. She picked up a fruit lying in a basket near the mother, inspecting it though both knew she really wasn't.

Nana turned back to the stove, giving her attention back to the food that she was preparing for her son and Hyakki Yakō. They were all hungry beings who really enjoyed her cooking, and she didn't mind making the Japanese food that they had grown to like so much. Maybe that was why they always came to the house during mealtimes, she mused. "You always come by to the house whenever something comes up, and it's usually important when you come and none of the others are here yet." She replied.

The cat yōkai sat down on the kitchen table, laying her head on her arms as she watched Nana cook. "Hm, you know me very well, Na-chan." Zuki purred, her eyes becoming narrow slits. "And you are correct; I have heard of some important news from reliable sources that concerns Tsunayoshi-kun."

Nana paused in her cooking, though she still stayed turned away from Zuki's sharp gaze. She turned her head partway, as though afraid to look at the bakeneko. "Is it… About _them_?" She asked hesitantly.

"It seems so. This is what has happened in the last few months…"

* * *

Upstairs in the privacy of his own room, Tsuna leaned against the door as he slid down to sit on the floor. He sighed deeply as he ran his hand through his unruly brown hair and looked around what he used to call his room. After months of Nana nagging at him to clean his room, the brunet had finally relented and had done so. It took several hours, but he felt a strong sense of accomplishment when he could see the furniture laid in his room he hadn't seen in years. He had to admit it made his room look a lot better, and he didn't have to trudge through piles of clothes littering the floor to look for suitable clothes to change into.

However, this only lasted for a maximum of five minutes as Tsuna had worked up a sweat with his work and had left to take a shower. In the span of ten minutes he had spent in the shower and returned to his room, he had been horrified to discover a pack of yōkai rabbits had invaded his room and were shedding an insane amount of fur. When the hanyō had opened the door, it had sent all the rabbits into a flurry, and ran around the room in a breakneck pace. They had tumbled over stationary on his desk, the neatly piled stacks of books on his bedside, and destroyed all order that Tsuna had worked so hard to create. All under a furry white fog.

"Geeze, I bet Zuki-san had something to do with it. She always somehow knows when I do something _right_ for once." He sighed, and remained where he was sitting. He could hear the faint murmurs of Zuki and Nana coming through the door, but he knew better than to try to listen in on their conversation. If they had wanted him to listen, they would have told him. But the feeling he had, the one that foretold important things to the brunet, kept telling him that the conversation going on in the kitchen was very important to him, and that he absolutely should be eavesdropping. "I wonder what they're talking about…" He muttered, itching to open the door just a crack and listen to their voices drift up the stairs.

At this point, his yōkai personas decided to make themselves known, and settled themselves into the comfy cushion of rabbit fur that littered the entire room.

**Never knew rabbit fur was so **_**comfy**_**! **Sora said happily, twisting and turning about the thick fur. If it wasn't for the fact he could roast anyone within seconds, Tsuna would've said that he looked like he was trying to make snow angels in the fur. Well, he couldn't blame him. The fur _did_ look like puffs of snow; a winter wonderland.

_**Well, what do you think, **_Ishou replied, watching the other yōkai from her seat on where everyone assumed the bed to be. Or the desk; it was hard to tell. _**Humans and yōkai use animal fur to keep themselves warm during the winters. You should know that much.**_

Tsuna nearly snorted at that. 'I doubt any yōkai or human uses this much fur for whatever they want. This could be enough for an entire village!'

**Hey, think we could send this over to Big Bro?** The fire yōkai suggested, his head popping up from the white tufts. **It gets really cold over there, and this stuff is so warm!**

'No way, nobody can take this much fur in one go. It could take several trips to make it.' Tsuna replied, shaking his head at the idea. Though he thought the Tōno residents might use it, they probably wouldn't be particularly grateful as it seemed like they were creating a bond with others when they were supposedly a neutral party.

_**By the way**__, _Ishou drawled, _**what are you going to do about this? This'll take even longer than the first time you cleaned up our room.**_

**Get the cat to do it!** Sora yelled, though his words were slightly muffled thanks to the fact the fire yōkai seemed to have dug himself into the cozy fur and made it his bed.

Both Tsuna and Ishou stared at him. Tsuna because he was trying to resist the thought threatening to spill across his mind, and Ishou because he was coming up with a mischievous prank to pull on his other self. It was a look that the brunet immediately knew he wouldn't like. It resembled the grin that crossed Rikuo's face when he thought up an ingenious prank to pull on an unsuspecting yōkai that would, no doubt, lead them to heaps of trouble.

He didn't particularly mind when they bickered, since they reminded Tsuna, in a strange way, of Rikuo and Zen when they argued about something involving yōkai. But now was not the time, both because of the feeling nagging at all three of them, and the large heap of fur that he really didn't want to make into a bigger mess it already was.

'Guys, stop! Not today, I need to clean up the fur!' Tsuna complained, holding his hands out in front of him as if it could stop Ishou.

**You're more worried about that? **The Nurarihyon yōkai looked incredulous at that. **Shouldn't you be trying to spy on Mother and Zuki down there?**

The fire yōkai lying not too far away from him snorted, and then quickly coughed as fur went into his lungs. He instantly sat up, pounding his fist against his chest in an effort to cough up the slightly burnt, yet somehow slimy furball.

'_**Ewww…**_' Both of them complained, though Tsuna was genuinely grossed out and Ishou looked like he wanted to make the other do it again.

After the fire yōkai had mostly cleared his lungs of the fur, he looked at Tsuna and started laughing even harder. **Haha! You think a human like him can spy on that cat? No way, they would find him out in a flash! **He cackled, snapping his fingers to produce a spark to enunciate his point.

The brunet pouted, and crossed his arms. 'I'm not _that_ obvious. I know just as well how good they can see things. I remember training with Big Bro.'

Both other yōkai chuckled at that, though there was a slight stiffness about that due to the harsh… punishments they had when they did something they weren't supposed to during training. As much as they liked and respected Itaku, the kamaitachi was too serious about training all the time.

_**How about a bet, then?**_ The sly yōkai suggested, a smirk adorning his youthful face. Though it could've made any girl swoon at that, all Tsuna could feel was dread sinking into his gut.

The mention of a bet also got Sora's attention, as his fiery head shot up from the fur. He shook his head to clear the fur from his head before going closer to the pair. **A bet? What kind of bet? What're the stakes? **He asked eagerly.

The brunet couldn't help but twitch slightly both of those eager expressions. He wasn't exactly the gambling sort of person that the other two seemed to enjoy, but he enjoyed the friendly competition that he had with Rikuo. It helped motivate him to be more than the Muyō-Tsuna, though now he was called 'Dame-Tsuna,' he still couldn't shake the name that he had been called for years.

It didn't exactly help that the two yōkai would goad him on at times, making him more frustrated than he cared to admit. It was obvious that the yōkai noticed it, as they pushed him even further tirelessly until he stopped and refused to do anymore. It left them on a rift at times, but they always came back and treated him like they usually did, and their playful acts of teasing always managed to get a wry grin out of him.

'Can't we just leave it? I have this mess to clean up before Mama comes…' Tsuna protested weakly, not really willing to face Nana's wrath.

Sora rolled his eyes. **Boring brat.** He grumbled, and jutted his chin out at Ishou. **What's the bet?**

Ishou grinned with his crimson eyes twinkling with mischief. _**Since our human part doesn't want to take part, it'll just be the rest of us. A bet to see who's the better spy.**_

**That's it? **The other replied, leaning back. **And I was getting all excited. What's the fun of spying on them? It's not like it can be anything worthwhile. **

_**Oh, so you don't want to either? **_The Nurarihyon replied, leaning back. _**Well, I can understand why. I'm better at hiding than you are.**_

The brunet knew that wasn't quite the right thing to say, as Sora had a rather short temper when it came to who was the better yōkai. **Oh, really? I'll take you on then! What'll I get when I when?**

'Guys, don't! I need to clean up my room!' Tsuna complained, though he knew it would only fall on deaf ears. He felt exasperated, knowing without his feeling that it wasn't going to end well for him.

_**If you win, then I'll get you that sake you kept whining on about. You know the one.**_Ishou declared, not missing the flash behind Sora's amber orbs. _**And since you're so confident, you can also have the first try.**_

**Fine!** Sora returned, much to Tsuna's dread. **But if you somehow manage to win, you get a sweet sword I managed to swipe off someone!**

'You stole a sword from someone? Again?' Tsuna asked dryly, too used to the action happening time and time again over the years to really get angry about it anymore. And if it was a dealing between them and not him, then there was no way he was going to be able to touch it as himself. He just hoped it wasn't a treasured sword of someone in town.

_**As if you could steal something, never mind a sword.**_ Ishou said as though agreeing with Tsuna's last thought. _**Let's see it first before I agree**_.

The fire yōkai bristled visibly, obvious angry at the thought of being called a liar. **You know I wouldn't lie about some butter knife like that! And between the three of us, you know that we can't lie!**

Ishou paused at that, a frown beginning to tug at his lips. It was true, what Sora had said about the fact that they couldn't lie to each other. It was a quirk that they had quickly learned when they were first getting to know each other, and Sora was quick to show he disliked it. Ishou had been quick to take that to his advantage, and could easily manipulate the fire yōkai whenever he wished. He knew well enough by now that he wouldn't lie to him, as they were one and the same, but he wasn't so sure he could easily believe the other had managed to get a sword that neither Ishou or Tsuna noticed.

_**Fine, but it had better be a good sword, not like that stupid broom you called a 'sword.' **_Ishou said with a heavy stare.

The fiery third of the trio flashed a cocky grin. **You bet!**

With the deal sealed, they both cast a meaningful look over at the brunet still gawking at them from the door. After catching their stares when it was left quiet for a bit too long, Tsuna shook his head to clear his head and look at them with a questioning stare. 'What?' He asked.

Sora slapped a hand into his face while Ishou's lips lifted into a small smile. _**Matchstick here needs to make good on our bet.**_He replied.

Tsuna shifted uncomfortably, not really wanting to go through with the idea. 'Is there really no other way around it?' He begged, really not finding the idea of spying on his mother appealing.

**Nope!** Sora said cheerfully.

There was some complaint on Tsuna's part, but the brunet reluctantly allowed the fire yōkai to take over to take up his part of the bet. He just wished the feeling he had didn't tell him that it was a bad choice of doing that.

* * *

"Geeze, how long is that brat going to be putting us all out on patrol like this?" Kamui huffed, lifting his arms behind his head. He'd been walking around Nanimori all day today, despite it being the first day without school. He'd much rather spend his days near a body of water, but he'd been unable to due to the diminutive brunet hanyō and his mother.

If only Nana wasn't able to scare him just with that overly-friendly smile and just used **Fear** like all the other yōkai leaders! At least then he'd able to excuse his fear, rather than having to admit he was scared of the way a normal human housewife smiled at him while she cut up some fresh meat she bought at the butcher. It was far scarier than any yōkai he was sure he'd ever meet.

_But then again,_ Kamui mused, _if it wasn't for the fact she was so strong, I probably wouldn't have followed her in the first place._ He was brought out of his thoughts at the sudden sensation of dehydration in his throat. "Thirsty…? But I just finished drinking—" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw the reason for why he was feeling so thirsty. He sighed loudly and mentally counted to three as the distant moving smudge came closer at an alarmingly fast speed. As soon as he got to three, he shot out his arm, effectively bonking the person in the head and making him tumble to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Oww, why'd you do that?" A familiar voice moaned, and Kamui felt like punching the brat for deciding to cause mischief so quickly. He roughly grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt, shaking the boy. "You stupid brat, why are you like this right now?"

"What're you talking about?" The boy returned, shooting the yōkai a look of irritation. "It's Saturday, and there's nothing to do! Besides, I got a bet going on right now, and I'm not planning on losing! Now put me down, or I'm grilling you!"

With a clear grimace, Kamui reluctantly put the ruffled child back on the ground. Sora glared at him from amber colored eyes, his eyes narrowing just the way Nana's did when she was upset. If it wasn't for the fact his hair looked so much like fire rather than normal calm brown, the yōkai would've sworn he was dealing with Nana all over again.

"What bet is important enough to risk this?" The ocean yōkai hissed, grabbing a bunch of orange-brown hair. He ignored the slight burning sensation in his fingers as he tugged it. "Why are you walking around like this? A human could see you! You don't look much different from your human self, you know!"

"Put me down and I'll tell you what's going on!" Sora replied, yanking his shirt out of the yōkai's grip. He gave the other a glare as he straightened his clothes, dusting it off casually. "The stupid cat came over to the house a few minutes ago. I made a bet to see if I could spy on them." He said easily. "Besides, we're looking for that fox… pineapple… thing… So it'd be easier if I could look myself during the day."

Fighting with himself not to throttle the boy, Kamui settled for slapping the boy on the back of his head. "You idiot!" He growled, "You told everybody to stay in their human forms! If that fox _actually _exists, it could kill you easily! We don't even know how it looks!"

Sora snorted. "I don't think it's that hard to find a pineapple headed fox with blue and red eyes." He said doubtfully.

"_I don't give a damn!_" Kamui hissed, shoving his face right in front of Tsuna's slightly surprised one. "How is it fair that you can transform, and I'm not?! Do you know how damn irritated I am that I have to spend my day away from school to watch this town for a yōkai _that might not exist_!?"

Blinking his sharp orange eyes, Tsuna was silent, then, "Kamui, you really need to take a chill pill."

With that, what little of Kamui's patience snapped into pieces, and had to struggle not to punch the grinning hanyō square in the jaw. Nana would be very 'displeased' if she heard her subordinates were acting even younger than her own son. 'Honestly,' he could almost hear her say, 'You're over a hundred years old! Start acting like it! I won't be cooking you sashimi until you learn your lesson!'

Oblivious to the near death beating he was about to recieve if he kept talking about it, Sora barrelled on in the conversation. "Speaking of which, you know what that stupid cat is up to?" He asked.

Still staving off his irritation, he didn't pay too much attention to the sentence. "What about her? She's probably sleeping in a tree in the park again. Or probably going to look for that kid from your school again." He said.

"No," Sora replied, jerking a thumb back at his house. "she came over this morning. Said she had to talk to Mom about something. They obviously didn't want me there, so I wondered if you knew."

Now a little interested, Kamui eyed the hanyō carefully. "She doesn't usually come over unless it's mealtime. I think it's a bit late for that."

"Well, yeah, but there's no one else but Mom at home right now. So it's gotta be something important if they won't let me know about it." Tsuna said, looking pointedly at the other.

"Oh no no no, oh HELL no, you wouldn't be thinking—" Kamui stammered, waving his hands in front of him as he backed away.

The hanyō reached out and grasped the other's shoulder, locking him in place. "Yep. And there's no way you're getting out of it; I need a partner in crime here."

"Why can't you get Hanayome or Kōun? They'd be MUCH better for something like this!" The desperate yōkai pleaded, not wanting to be a part of Tsuna's plans. They usually didn't end well when they involved the fire one.

"Nope, you're the only one. Kōun isn't good at sneaking around, and Hanayome is out on a date with someone today. So it's just you and me today!" Tsuna's face was smiling, but Kamui noted that it was a little _too_ happy.

"I think you inherited a little too much from Nana." Kamui grumbled resignedly. When either mother or son had that expression, it didn't matter if one argued against it or not. You'd be swept up and pulled into whatever harebrained scheme they thought up. Only this time, Kamui knew that he was going to be severely hurt if he went anywhere near the Sawada household. "Do you _really_ want to do this? You know what'll happen if you get caught."

The only reply he received was a wide toothy grin from the other, before an overly warm arm wrapped itself around Kamui's neck and started dragging him towards where Zuki and Nana were.

* * *

Back in the house, Nana and Zuki were still talking in the kitchen. They had both noticed the change coming from Tsuna's room, and had quickly disappeared, indicating that he had left the house. Despite the pointed look to make sure Tsuna left, Nana knew her son well enough to know that even if his human side didn't mind, his yōkai parts did. She was much like that at his age too, after all. However, with no one else in the house due to sensing Zuki was there, Nana wasn't quite sure what her son was planning. It was always important matters that made the bakeneko venture into their house outside of mealtimes, even more so when no one else came into the house.

"Hm, that _is_ important news." Nana hummed, taking a deep breath of her fragrant jasmine tea. "I wonder how Papa took it."

Zuki purred at her spot on the other side of the table, her tails waving about in pleasure as she took a deep sip of the sake Nana had provided for her. Even if Nana was a human mother first and yōkai leader second, she was still amazingly the best cook in town by far. "This is really delicious, I'd really like to know how you made this, Na-chan~"

"Of course, any time you like." Nana smiled, knowing what Zuki was trying to do. "How long until they will send someone?"

The cat yōkai pouted for a moment before it fell into a giggle. Nana was always sharper than what many took her for. "I don't know. Maybe a week, maybe a month." She sang. "The person who did it was exceptional by human standards. It might take a while to find him. Of course, I already have. It's not hard to find someone like him."

Nana raised a brow at the subtle hint. "A human with some yōkai blood? Well, I can't say that it's particularly rare for them to go for that profession. Being a yōkai makes assassinations all that much easier." She mused.

"Ah, but you forget," Zuki smiled coyly, raising a finger. "They have the 'strongest hitman in the world' on their side. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on his way to the killer right now."

"Maa, and I was hoping to have trained Tsu-kun a little more before they arrived…" The mother sighed, placing a hand on her cheek. She leaned back in her chair to stare at Zuki. "Who do you think they would send?"

Zuki shrugged carelessly. "Seeing as Tsunayoshi-kun is their last hope, they'll likely send the best possible. He _is_ going to inherit the most infamous group in the human world."

The brunette looked at her cup for a moment, watching the steam rise before dissipating into the air. "If it's Timoteo…" She said slowly, "Then he'll send someone he trusts. Someone who holds the utmost loyalty to him. Papa has probably given him Tsuna's records as well. Considering how his grades have fallen with the yōkai showing up, I'm sure they'll be sending him along."

"Might this be the same person who taught the pony-boy?" Zuki asked, looking as though she didn't particularly care. However, Nana knew the cat yōkai better than that. "He's not important right now." Nana replied, waving her hand dismissively.

"Oh?" Zuki replied, her expression melting into one of nonchalant. "Well, what do you suppose _is_ important right now?"

Nana's sly smile slipped across her face, though her entire body posture remained relaxed. "I suppose we should discipline my son and stupid subordinate, don't you?" She suggested. They both knew the two eavesdropping yōkai had twitched at that, and inwardly smiled devilishly.

The bakeneko stroked her chin in a long imaginary beard as she thought, drawing out the inevitable. Zuki already knew what kind of punishments they should get, but it was just so much fun watching them sweat!

"Maybe…" She drawled, "You should have them go clean up the Nanimori shrine. There's a lot of garbage, and I've been getting an earful about it lately."

Nana could practically feel the panic coming from both boys now. "That's a wonderful idea! Tsu-kun shouldn't have too much homework since it's the start of a new school year, and it's a good chance for him to learn more about Land Gods!"

Sora shifted uncomfortably in his hiding spot, feeling the faint glimmer of excitement coming from Tsuna. If he was in control right now, he would have been bouncing around on the spot with barely concealed squeaks of joy. The fire yōkai wasn't particularly against the idea, as he secretly shared the trait of fascination towards yōkai. The problem lied with fact of the yōkai that would be in charge of their punishment if they were sent to Nanimori Shrine. He hoped if he hid a little more then maybe…

"I know you're there. There's no point in hiding anymore." Nana's voice called out clearly to them.

The firet muttered a string of unintelligible words under his breath, feeling rather annoyed in the situation he had landed himself in.

"I heard that! Don't make me extend your punishment! Yume wouldn't mind if you helped him all week." Nana called out, sending a silent glare of warning at Tsuna.

"Tsunayoshi-kun~~!" Zuki whined, opening the door to outside and grabbing the males from where they had been hiding. "I'm hungry~! Make me some food~!"

Sora turned his head to look at Zuki the best he could with her arm wrapped around his neck. "Me? Cook?" He asked incredulously, "Are you crazy?"

Kamui snapped, "Don't you remember what happened the last time Tsuna cooked while he was in yōkai form? Stupid cat."

The cat yōkai gave a laugh. "Of course, that's exactly why I want him to cook. With Na-chan's permission of course."

"Of course she's going to say n—" Kamui started, but was cut off by Nana. "I think that's a wonderful idea! I used to always cook using my yōkai abilities. This would be good practice for Tsu-kun to learn how to control his abilities better." She exclaimed, her expression bright as she clapped her hands together in delight.

Off to the side, Sora slapped a hand to his face. "Dammit," he muttered, "if I knew it was going to turn out like this, I would've let that idiot take over first and let _him_ suffer."

"Wait, hold on!" Kamui yelled, putting a hand in front of him. "I don't get what you two were talking about earlier. Someone's coming? Who are you talking about? Is it a Hyakki Yakō leader?"

Instead of either Nana or Zuki answering the question, all three were surprised to see that it was instead Tsuna who answered the question. "They were talking about my life as a human. Or would it be better to say the changes are about to happen?"

Kamui stared at Tsuna with a flabbergasted expression. Zuki's face turned a little more predatory with that oddly knowing smirk adorning her face, and Nana's just beamed a motherly pride. "Ah, is that what you've been up to while you escaped school?" She cooed. "My little Tsu-kun is getting smarter every day."

Sora grinned, not even bothering to deny the hidden accusation. "Great Uncle did the same when he went to find out what happened on the mountain that day we got attacked."

"He's the Supreme Commander, he can take care of himself!" Kamui argued. "He's way more powerful than you, and is more than capable of getting rid of some small-fry yōkai!"

"Rikuo promised to become the next Supreme Commander, and I promised I would be right there alongside him." Sora said, his expression impassive, "That was the promise the three of us made when we each exchanged sakazuki with each other."

The ocean yōkai gave the hanyō a hard stare, which Sora easily returned. Zuki and Nana watched the staring contest in amusement, before Zuki got an idea. She gave a toothy grin to Nana that spoke of trouble. Nana returned the grin with a confused stare, but didn't do anything to stop her.

Unconsciously, Kamui and Sora had grown closer to each other during their impromptu staring contest. Their brows had furrowed much more, and their faces were set and stubborn. It didn't seem like either would give up, unfortunately, until the other backed down. This suited Zuki perfectly fine, as it just made things easier for her to do what she wanted to do. Creeping closer to the unsuspecting duo, she allowed her yōkai features to seep back onto her form, letting her two long tails swish in the air appreciatively. She then positioned a tail behind either one of the boy's heads, almost touching them, but not quite. With a quick glance to make sure she wasn't noticed, she quickly gave the heads a quick shove before immediately returning to her former seat.

The effect was instantaneous; the pressure caused their foreheads to bash together, hitting each other with a smacking noise. Reacting from the pain, both shot their heads upwards to get away from the cause. As they held their foreheads in their hands, they failed to hear the giggling from Nana, or the snickering coming from Zuki until they realized a strange sensation coming from their lips. Snapping their eyes open, they found themselves close (too close!) to each other's face, and the orange and blue pair of eyes travelled down each other's face until they realized where the strange feeling was coming from.

The snickers and giggles burst into outright laughter as the two male yōkai tore themselves away from each other, gagging on the floor with their foreheads starting to discolor. They both glared at the laughing female yōkai, but as soon as they saw the other at the corner of their vision, they turned away with burning cheeks. They vehemently despised being right there and wished that they had never come anywhere near the house. They had been punished plenty for disobeying orders, but they never had gone this far before. Of course, when Zuki and Nana were the ones plotting punishments, all logic went right out the window.

"Hahahaha! Oh, oh my, Tsu-kun! Hahaha!" Nana laughed. The mother was leaning most of her weight onto the table or else she would have tumbled onto the floor and laughed until her sides split open. "I wish I had a picture of that moment!"

"I-I can't believe," Zuki gasped from her spot on the floor, trying to get some air into her lungs, "I can't believe you two—"

Both Kamui and Sora's faces burned with anger and embarrassment as the two continued to laugh at them. "Come on, it's not that funny!" Kamui snapped. He could veins popping in various places in his head, and was glad no one else had been witness to the event. However, with Zuki there and most likely willing to spread the tale, everyone might as well had been there.

"Oh, yes it is!" Nana replied, "You two kept on kissing for so long! Hahahaha!"

"It was not a kiss!" Sora protested, "That was just… Just…"

Her laughter subsided, though there were still some snickers, Zuki cut him off. "Not a kiss? There's no other way of calling it other _than_ a kiss!"

"Oh my!" Nana said suddenly, her hand flying to her cheek once more as realization just struck her. "I just remembered; this would be Tsu-kun's first kiss!"

"Mom!" Sora cried, his horrified face quickly flushing red.

'Mama is never going to let this go…' Tsuna moaned in despair, humiliation and embarrassment filling up their entire being. On the other hand, their Nurarihyon side seemed to be getting a kick out of it. _**Hahaha! I can't believe you fell for that!**_

**Oi, you could have a little more tact. **The fire yōkai jabbed back, still angry and embarrassed about what happened. **Ugh, I can't believe Mom actually said that out loud. Zuki'll spread it to the others at this rate.** He groaned, stuffing his face into his hands. "This was a bad idea." He mumbled.

"Of course it was! I told you it would, but you still wanted to go through with it!" Kamui snarled, but immediately looked away when Sora lifted his head. A faint blush was painted across his cheeks, which did not go unnoticed by the sharp eyed cat yōkai.

Zuki tilted her head to the side slightly. "Ara? What's this? Why are you still blushing, Kamui-kun~?" She said, her voice taking on the 'I-Know-Something-You-Don't' tone that Kamui and Sora dreaded. "Could it be that you…"

"Don't you even think about finishing that sentence, you stupid cat!" Kamui snarled, pointing an accusing finger at the bakeneko. His eyes were narrowed, though he had no doubt in his mind that if Zuki truly felt like saying what was on her mind, she would say it. She _was_ a very whimsical yōkai in nature after all.

"Now, for your punishment—" Nana started but was quickly cut off by the protesting fire yōkai child.

"Punishment?! You still want to give us punishment after doing _that_ to us?!" Sora exclaimed, his voice breaking as disbelief of the situation hit him. As a yōkai, Tsuna's body underwent physical changes to adapt to the yōkai physiology. However, there were still a few things that made it obvious that his body wasn't entirely yōkai while he looked the part. Vocal chords, apparently, were one of them.

Zuki stared at Sora's face for a moment before a sly smirk crossed her face. "Ne, it looks like Tsunayoshi-kun's reached puberty already." She said, nudging Nana's side. "They grow up so fast."

The other nodded, giving an almost proud smile in Sora's direction. "For your punishment, Tsu-kun, you will be helping Yume no Ryū at the shrine for one week. Kamui, you will be Zuki's 'assistant' for the week." She proclaimed, before making her way to the kitchen in order to start cooking something. She hummed a cheery tune under her breath, completely oblivious to the dumbstruck looks on the two males, and the outright laughter coming out of the female.

"A-Assistant? F-For h-her?" Kamui stammered, feeling blood draining from his face. He slowly and extremely reluctantly turned his eyes towards Zuki, who had recovered from her laughing fit and was now looking absolutely devious with a devilish smile on her face. Her two tails were swishing back and forth easily, like that of a hunter that had cornered its prey. Kamui didn't need anyone to tell him who was what.

The fire haired boy didn't even notice the ocean yōkai's disheartened state as he was trying to get out of his own punishment. "Yume-san?!" He protested, "But he doesn't like anyone! Especially me! He treats me worse than he does anyone else in town!"

"All the more reason for your appropriate punishment to be with him." Nana replied cheerily, tying her apron around her waist as she eyed the contents of the fridge with an experienced eye. "If you're worried about starting today, don't worry about it. I have to let Yume know, so I'll go have a chat with him later. You can expect it your punishment to start tomorrow!"

Knowing there was no way of arguing his way out of it anymore, Sora buried his face in his hands with a hard sigh. "How did things end up like this?" He groaned.

_**Haha, you regret sneaking in now? **_Ishou snickered, not even bothering to hide his amusement towards the whole situation. Though 'helping' Yume meant it would also be taking up his precious time out, he didn't mind any little thing that showed up his fiery counterpart. It would make him learn some obedience and patience that he lacked, after all.

**Oh, shut up, you. **The other replied dourly, murderous intent radiating off of him. He resolutely decided that if he was ever going to spy again, he would do it when Zuki wasn't anywhere close by to carry out the punishments. At least Nana's weren't anywhere as humiliating at Zuki's were.

* * *

_Somewhere in Italy…_

As an international airport, it was given that one should be of an impressive size. However, it was undeniable that Aeroporto Fiumicino was the largest airport in Europe. It had all the state of the art technology that was kept up to date constantly and the flights were nothing to scoff at either. The entirety of the staff working there were fully trustworthy and catered to everyone's needs with saint-like patience. Many were suspicious that there was an entirely illegal reason as to why such a haven existed, but there was no evidence that it was otherwise.

Of course, they weren't entirely wrong about that either. But the people backing Aeroporto Fiumicino were very skilled in covering their tracks from the public, though everyone knew if they were from the Underworld.

Not the Underworld of yōkai, by the way. The airport belongs to the top group of the human Underground world; the Vongola.

With the Vongola famiglia being the most powerful mafia family in the world with many alliances with famiglias all over the world, it wasn't an impossible thought to see the airport filled with ordinary citizens and Mafioso alike. Locals who travelled frequently to different parts of the country never even noticed that most of the time they flew with people who carried a large amount of firearms and illegal substances they smuggled on. It was widely assumed that every single one of the men with very expensive tailored suits were accomplished business men. And in a way, they certainly were.

However, there was a certain visitor to Aeroporto Fiumicino that caused many people in the airport to do a double take. A small infant barely up to an adult's knee was walking by himself through the airport. It was obvious he was along seeing as everyone who was within a three metre radius gawked at him in surprise. He walked forward with confidence and a destination in mind, and somehow, no one could find it in themselves to step forward and stop the baby. He was a child after all, so he might've gotten separated from his parents or guardian while waiting for his flight. The airport was large, and the amount of people there would have pushed a person in the wrong direction easily.

The baby pulled down his large black fedora with an orange band around it and smirked. He could tell he was attracting a lot of attention due to the pointed stares and hushed whispers which weren't really that quiet if they stopped to listen to themselves. He supposed that the sight of an infant in a formal suit walking through a renowned airport would be strange, but nothing to be gawked at. He supposed that it was likely his devilish looks that got all the whispers, seeing as how most of the people talking about him were women. As his large onyx eyes were hidden by his fedora, he supposed it was his bouncing curly sideburns attracting all the attention He was once told it was his most attractive feature once upon a time, after all. A little green chameleon sat on the wide brim of his fedora, watching everyone walk by with round amber colored eyes. It was widely ignored by many people, but it didn't mind. If someone wanted to grab onto it, it would easily just change into something a little more difficult to grab.

As the infant walked further into the airport, it grew noticeably less and less crowded. The infant dimly noticed that the quieter it got the few stares and whispers he received from people he walked past. In fact, some were giving him polite greetings as they walked past him, referring him to the name famous throughout the Mafia world: Reborn.

Finally, he reached what appeared to be the end of the hall, with a simple wooden door being guarded by a man in a suit. There wasn't anything particularly special about the door, nor the hallway that it was located at. The man himself seemed more for decoration rather than the guard duty that he was assumed to be doing. The baby ignored all of that as the guard opened the door with a slight nod of his head and closed it behind the baby, leaving him alone with a small group standing on the other side of the door.

The new hallway that he had entered was far more furnished than the one he had just left, decorated with expensive carpets and tasteful wallpaper that gave the room a sense of wealth. There was a faint scent of richly aged wine hanging in the air, stained in the room after the years that had gone by. The finely carved marble pillars that were part of the walls still shined in the light given off through the wide windows on one side. Between each of the pillars were two large portraits, each one depicting a person of obvious status and wealth. The pair of portraits closest to the group, and also the ones they were examining the portrait and talking to each other in low voices. Reborn didn't even need to glance at the portraits to know they were looking at a young man with spiky blond hair with light orange eyes that portrayed a kind and just personality. The portrait next to this one featured a young man around the same age as the other, though his was much shorted and tamed with platinum blond hair and ice blue eyes that showed aloofness and a strong sense of authority. Reborn knew instantly to label them as Vongola Primo, Giotto, and the first Vongola CEDEF and External Advisor, Alaude.

"_Iemitsu._" Reborn called, drawing the attention of the group to him.

It wasn't a large group by any means, as there was a woman and a small boy at his side. The Arcobaleno was familiar with the identities of both of them, and merely gave them a nod of acknowledgement before turning back to the man in the middle, Iemitsu. The current Vongola CEDEF Extermal Advisor to the Vongola Nono of the Vongola famiglia.

"_Reborn._" Iemitsu returned gruffly, looking slightly uncomfortable. It didn't take much for the infant to know why.

"_Ciaossu. Why are you here?_" He asked, though not unkindly. He knew perfectly well why, but he wasn't able to poke fun at someone like Iemitsu often. This was a rare opportunity. "_I remember Nono saying he was going to give you a mission out of the country last week._"

The blond man shifted slightly onto one foot uncomfortably, though his eyes remained on Reborn unblinking. Reborn stared right back into his eyes, noting the indecisive and guarded look in there, but said nothing of it. After a long pause, his brown eyes became focused. "_I've heard that you will be the one to train my son._" The man said, the hopeful note in his voice telling more than he would be willing to tell.

Reborn nodded, replying, "_That is my current mission._"

At this, Iemitsu allowed a small frown and a flash of worry to cross his face before it returned to a blank slate. Reborn's keen eyes missed nothing, but said nothing of it. The man was already disliking the fact that his son was chosen, he didn't need others seeing him becoming weak because of it.

"_Do…_" He started, before pausing. He seemed to be debating with himself before he continued. "_Do you think he could be a good boss?_"

This time, the hitman allowed a smirk to slip across his cherubic features. "_Are you having second thoughts? You are the one who suggested him to be the candidate, after all._"

"_Of course! He is the only one who still carries on Primo's bloodline! He is the only one who can continue!_" The man said, his expression fierce. As quickly as it came, however, it evaporated, leaving behind a defeated man. "_But he is still my son… I want to keep him safe. He doesn't deserve to become… this._" He gestured helplessly, though they both knew what he was referring to. It irritated that the man was acting like this now. He was the one who made the risk of choosing a person so untrained and so unused to violence to become the boss of the one of the bloodiest groups in history.

"_Iemitsu._" Reborn said, his tone sharp. "_Are you backing down? Are you not the External Advisor and chief of the CEDEF? You were the one called the 'Young Lion of the Vongola' not that long ago. Are you saying that you would give everything up for a boy?_"

This seemed to make the CEDEF chief bristle at that, especially at what Reborn was hinting at. "_They're both important to me, and I would do anything to protect them! I won't make a decision that would force me to give up one of them!_"

"_Then you don't trust him._" Reborn replied easily, smirking as Iemitsu grew angrier. There were easier ways of getting the information out of the man, but he found it much more amusing pushing him like this. He hoped his son would be just as entertaining as well.

Iemitsu spluttered, his emotions getting to him. He usually wouldn't be like this, as he as calm and analytical when the mafia business was involved. But his own Hyper Intuition had been keeping him on the edge for the past few days, and with his own son being named Vongola Decimo candidate, he felt he deserved to be a little angry. "_He's my son! Of course I trust him! But there's no way he can take over something like this without destroying him! I just want to make sure he and Nana stay safe from all this!_"

Reborn smirked and turned to walk around them, walking to the end of the hall. "_Then there is nothing to worry about. If he is the one to carry Primo's will, then have faith in him._"

* * *

A/N : Hello again. I've updated this a fair amount as well, and it's slowly changing the story. Everyone in this story will be referring to all part of Tsuna as Tsuna. The names Sora and Ishou are more like things they use to refer to each other, though it's mostly to keep all you readers from being confused or whatever it is. I never realized before this how hard it was to describe different parts of a single person. It's actually kind of challenging.

Aeroporto Fiumicino is a real airport, just to note, but I really don't know if it's actually the largest in Europe. Even if it isn't, just pretend it is just for the sake of the story.


	4. Bombs

The tengu my (what number is this now?) OC is will be a kite. Not those ones made up of paper and stuff and people fly them in the air. I'm talking about the bird. A black-eared kite, to be exact. If you don't know what it is, google it or whatever search engine it is you people use. **It ain't no crow.**

* * *

A heavy suffocating weight had settled on Tsuna's chest, shrinking the amount of precious air that he could breathe. With the roaring headache pounding through his skull, the hanyō considered this to be the worst hangover he'd ever had. And he wasn't even legal age yet.

'How does Rikuo manage to drink so much?' He thought, lucid thought returning to him. The brunet was reluctant to get up, as it was Sunday today and not a real reason to get up for the day. As much as he enjoyed being up and outside where the warm sunshine can brush past his face, he much would much rather sleep away his pain in the darkest, quietest corner of his house.

However, such was not to be the case as it seemed that his two yōkai counterparts decided to make themselves known, despite the migraine pounding through their consciousness.

**Oh. My. God. Why would you do that?** Sora groaned, immediately complaining as he smacked his hands over his face in an effort to keep the light from stabbing through into the back of his eyeballs and up into his brain. As much as he enjoyed the feeling of being intoxicated, he strongly despised the feeling that came after. No matter how much he drank, he always got a strong hangover the next day that wouldn't go away no matter what advice the others told him.

_**It's not so bad.**_ Ishou tried grinning, but it ended up in a pained grimace as the use of his facial muscles sent stings of pain through his head. _**Okay, maybe I took it a little too far this time.**_

**A little?!** The fire yōkai bellowed, making all three flinch from the negative effect it had on them. They all clutched their heads in pain, moaning out mutters of how anything would be better than this at the moment.

'Just because Sora got punished, that doesn't mean you drink until you pass out!' Tsuna moaned, wanting to writhe in pain if the weight wasn't pinning him down. He settled for digging the heel of his palms into his eye sockets, as if he could push the pain right out of his head. Maybe if he tried hard enough, it could work.

Sora muttered obscenities under his breath, feeling in a rather murderous mood towards a certain yōkai who had caused the whole mess. Tsuna guessed that from his current mood, the fire that made up his hair was burning low but very hot. It made him seem a bit subdued, but all the yōkai knew that was when he was the most volatile. If the wrong action was taken, then the yōkai was liable to exploding with intense fury, consequences be damned. There was the sounds of footsteps, and Tsuna guessed that he had walked over to the spot next to the door and had slid down against it, taking a seat on the floor. He let Sora brood; he didn't feel like getting involved if he finally decided to off the drunk dream-like yōkai.

Said drunk dream-like yōkai was in decidedly better shape than the other two, something that Tsuna was quite annoyed at. They were all the same person, so why was it that _he_ was the only one that got the best alcohol tolerance? It wasn't fair; he should be suffering the most for drinking so much, not them. To add on top of his irritation, he could hear the damned yōkai _humming_ a cheery tune despite the headache they all knew he had. Sometimes he was just a pain in the neck.

'No wait, you're a pain in the neck all the time.' Tsuna grumbled at the other.

Ishou didn't seem put off by that, as he walked closer to the bed where Tsuna was still laying. _**Well, I know how to deal with it by now. It's not my fault you guys can't adjust to getting drunk.**_He said, a smug tone coloring his voice.

**This has nothing to do with 'adjusting.' **Sora growled from his seat. **Just because you like to drink, doesn't mean that we all do.**

'If he hadn't done something, you would've done something way worse than this.' Tsuna chipped in, wincing as a particularly angry throb bled through his brain. 'I prefer this than anything Zuki would do.'

_**Oh really?**_ Ishou said, his voice sounding amused. Tsuna resolved one day to ask how he managed to make it seem like he wasn't heavily hung over when he really was. _**Then why are you letting that cat sit on top of you like that?**_

Confused, Tsuna's face scrunched up, but he still didn't open his eyes. 'What are you talking about? There's no one sitting on me.'

Now Sora joined in, sounding amused like Ishou was, but his voice was laced with pain. **Open up your eyes, brat. You got a pair, use 'em.**

Not understanding what the two of them were talking about, Tsuna braced himself as he cracked open his eyelids. It was tough, as there was some force was doing their best to keep them shut. And even when he finally managed to crack his eyes open, he immediately shut them as the bright morning sunshine directly hit his sensitive eyes. He groaned as it increased the pain of his headache, and wanted to give up. But then he became aware of a soft noise coming from his chest that he knew was definitely _not_ him. So he decided to brave another attempt, easing one eye open only this time and slowly adjusted himself to the light. He raised a hand to block it a little, so he would be able to find the source of the noise.

To say that he was surprised to see a large two-tailed cat sitting on his chest would be a slight understatement. The cat's fur was a blinding white that looked like it glowed in the morning light, though Tsuna could make out strange pink markings. The cat's eyes were openly staring into his own brown ones, and it almost seemed to smile as its two tails flicked behind it.

"Good morning, Zuki." Tsuna sighed, making no move to shove the cat yōkai off. He was glad at least she was a cat this time. The last few times were rather… uncomfortable and unbelievably awkward as well. He gave an involuntary shudder as the whisper of a past memory threatened to resurface, and he started speaking in order to prevent it from coming back. "Why are you in my room again?"

**Great thing to say, we already know why! **Sora snapped, though it was easily ignored by the others.

"To greet you good morning~!" Zuki purred, rubbing her head on Tsuna's cheek. A purr resumed in her chest, vibrating against Tsuna's body below her. It was then that Tsuna realized that the heavy weight that had been pressing against him was the bakeneko herself; currently in the form of a very large cat that managed to smother every part of his body.

With the realization came the feeling of pain as physics kicked in and gravity pulled the cat onto his body. His arms and legs twitched uselessly, unable to move in a way he could somehow shove the cat off. And with Zuki covering almost his entire body, there was no way he could lean to one side and make her slide off. He groaned, turning to stare at Sora still watching him with some amusement. 'Aren't you going to help me?'

**And get caught up in that? No way, it's more fun watching you struggle with a cat.** The other replied, smirking through the pain. The present situation was making them all temporarily forget their hangover, a distraction they all gladly welcomed.

'Ishoou,' Tsuna whined, flailing his arms as best as he could. He didn't care if he was acting like a spoiled brat right now, the feeling of his breath being squished out of him wasn't the best feeling to have and he wanted sweet, fresh air that let him live. 'help me!'

For a moment, hope filled Tsuna's ever sinking chest as a look of consideration crossed the yōkai's features. Then, it was gone as a mischievous look that matched Rikuo's replaced it. _**Nope, I don't think I will.**_ He said cheerily, turning to sit on the desk sitting against the wall. _**This is your problem, so you should solve it. I think it's a good way for you to deal with yōkai. We deserve a day off.**_

'During a time like this, _now_ you don't want to take over?!' Tsuna yelled, starting to wriggling around trying to free himself. He was quickly running out of air, and from the aching feeling coming from his torso, he was getting close to the point of cracking his ribs. "Z-Zuki, can you get off me?" He gasped, his voice sounding very strained.

"Whatever for?" The cat purred, nuzzling down further into the brunet's body, causing him to splutter as it squished out even more air out of him. "It's so _comfy_ sitting on you."

By now, Tsuna was quite sure that there was no way oxygen would be entering his lungs anytime soon, and his flailing limbs became even more frantic. His vision started swimming as he looked around the room quickly, hoping there was some yōkai passing by who could help save him before he died of precious air deprivation. It wasn't exactly his best choice of dying.

He was so concentrated on surviving, he nearly missed the low murmur of a distinctly male voice.

"The hell are you two doing so early in the morning?"

Straining his body in order to see over the silvery white fur, Tsuna thought he could make out wings with his blurry vision. "Air… need… air…" He gasped, hoping that the yōkai would hear him. He began sinking into the world of unconsciousness, but he faintly heard panicked yells before he passed out as the lack of air finally got to him.

* * *

"Brat, hey, wake up! Hey! I'm not going to keep doing this! Wake up!"

Tsuna took in a deep breath through his nose, stretching slightly before curling up and returning to sleep. He was very tired, and he didn't want to get up. It was so comfy in his bed after all…

"Wake up! Now!"

Irritated, the brunet muttered, 'Can't you let me sleep? I have a headache too,' Thinking that it was Ishou or Sora trying to wake him up. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't either of them, but another person standing by him. He got a nagging feeling that he really should be obeying the voice and wake up, but it was so peaceful and warm in his bed that it was doing wonders for his aching head.

"So help me, if you don't get up this second, I'm going to chuck you out the window and not give a damn when you fall and crack your head!"

The threat didn't really register through his sleep-ridden mind, so Tsuna mumbled back at the voice, "Go ahead. I wanna go skiing with a toaster…"

For a moment, the voice was quiet, and the hanyō thought that maybe it had finally decided to leave him alone and let him sleep. He happily did so, though he wondered how a voice could pick him up and throw him out the window when it didn't even have a body to pick him up with.

Sleepiness was replaced with surprise and alarm as two strong arms wrapped themselves around the brunet's small form. He squirmed around, trying to see who it was picking him up. Was it the voice? When all he saw was darkness, he panicked even more and started thrashing around like a worm. "Whoa! S-Stop! What're you doing?!" He shrieked as he tried to free himself, but found himself too wrapped up in his blanket to free himself, and ended up entangling himself even more.

"Chucking you out the window like I told you." The voice deadpanned, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, hey, stop!" The boy protested, wriggling around even more now that the sluggishness faded and was replaced with adrenaline. "D-Don't drop me! Help!"

The arms holding Tsuna up tightened to the point that he thought if he didn't know the strength of yōkai first hand, he would've thought that something like a robot was carrying him. "I told you to get up. And when I tell you, you'd better listen." The person growled, causing a shiver to run down the brunet's spine as he finally recognized the voice and person carrying him.

"T-Tobi, w-what're you doing b-back s-so early?" Tsuna stammered, feeling himself starting to sweat. He stopped squirming, discreetly shifting the blanket to created a better barrier between him and Tobi. The tengu stopped moving, and Tsuna could only hope that he decided to not throw him out the window. His hopes were dashed when the yōkai jostled him onto his shoulder, and the faint sensation of a breeze made the brunet's blood freeze in his veins. 'He's not seriously going to…?'

"Have a nice trip."

Tsuna screeched as he was dumped carelessly through his bedroom window on the second floor, well aware that since it wasn't facing the street, there wasn't much chance of someone helping him. He wasn't entirely sure that someone would come and save him, so he took these last few moments of his life to silently say good bye to his friends and family. Unfortunately, it still didn't take as long as the hanyō wished, and he found that when he opened his eyes again, he was a mere metre away from becoming a stain in the pavement. His eyes bulged and he gave the loudest shriek possible despite his pounding hangover, uselessly wrapping his arms around his head.

"Whoa, Tsuna! Is this how you start your morning? Energetic as usual, haha!" A familiar voice laughed, and it took a few moments for the brunet to realize that someone was holding him in their arms. To his great relief, he found that the person was none other than Takeshi, his only human friend.

"Y-Yamamoto-san!" Tsuna said breathlessly, feeling dazed from the rush of adrenaline that made him want to pass out. It was only his sheer will and the angry buzzing in his ears keeping him from doing so. "W-What're you doing here? Isn't today Sunday?"

At that, Takeshi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, yeah, but I wanted to know if you wanted to come over today. We haven't gotten together that much since you were gone over the summer, so we haven't hung out too much."

Tsuna blinked at Takeshi owlishly, not quite sure that he had heard the friendly teen correctly. "Y-You want to... hang out? Together?" He stammered, cursing as his hangover throbbed painfully through his skull as his heartbeat sped up, hope filling him at Takeshi's words. Did he really mean that?

The baseball loving teen grinned and smacked Tsuna's shoulder, not hearing the other's gasp at the sudden impact. "Maa, what're you sounding so surprised for? We've hung out before, you know you're always welcome at my place! My old man likes you too, you know!"

"O-Of course!" The hanyō replied, puffing out his cheeks. "It's just… I was surprised. I just woke up, you know!"

"Really?" Takeshi asked, looking genuinely surprised. "I thought you were getting ready for a play or something."

Tsuna gave the other a confused glance. "What makes you think that? It's too early in the morning for a play."

"You look just like clouds, you know? Your costume's all white and fluffy looking too, haha!" The taller teen smiled, gesturing to the blanket still covering Tsuna very snug. Wriggling around to take a better look at himself, he had to admit he looked more like a caterpillar trapped in a cocoon rather than a floating cloud. Their shape wasn't as restricted as a cocoon.

He discovered after a few minutes of wriggling around that he couldn't actually escape from his blanket prison, nor could he move his limbs. He highly suspected that it had something to do with - before he was hurled through the window. "Erm, Yamamoto-san?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you, uh, let me out? I think…" Tsuna muttered, grunting as he trying to punch his way out. After exhausted what little strength he had and his head heavily protested the use of his body. He had to shut his eyes as dots swam in his vision. "I think I'm stuck in here."

Leaning forward to get a closer look at Tsuna's current prison, a hand went to Takeshi's chin as he examined the smaller teen at all sides. After a few hums, Takeshi nodded as if confirming something. "Yep, you're stuck all right. I don't even see anywhere I could pull. I guess the only way would be to cut you open, haha!"

"C-Cut me open?!" Tsuna shrieked, falling backwards in surprise onto his back. He was winded for a minute, then tried to get upright. However, he only managed to squirm around on the ground. "I-Isn't there some other way? Can't you pull me out?"

The expression on the raven haired boy's face made something inside Tsuna die a little. Did he really not consider that at all? "Wow! I didn't think of that! You're much smarter than everyone says you are!" Takeshi grinned cheerily, making Tsuna wonder how they were in the same grade. "Maa, I'll bring you to my house! My dad's way stronger than I am, he'll be able to pull you out no problem!"

"Wait, what?! You don't hav—Yamamoto-san! Put me down!" Tsuna protested, his face flushing as Takeshi easily hoisted the brunet onto his shoulder. After letting Tsuna flounder about uselessly, the easy going teen went down the street back to Takesushi, completely ignoring the fact he looked like he was carrying a body bag over his shoulder or that his friend was still complaining about cutting him open. It was his most comfortable blanket, after all.

* * *

It took about an hour, a few of Tsuyoshi's sharpest knives, along with some fish, but Tsuna was finally free of his fabric prison with minimal damage to him and his blanket. Though the brunet was grateful that the father-son pair had helped him out, the brunet wished they hadn't had to cut up his blanket. After a few weeks of living in a yōkai household, he had quickly discovered that things didn't last long, especially when it came to food. Many things that he had owned as a child had been destroyed either accidentally or during the yōkai's drunken antics. He knew that his favourite blanket would eventually be destroyed like many other things he owned, but he hadn't come across the possibility that maybe _humans_ might destroy his things as well. The hanyō had a feeling that the blanket was going to be the first of many in the years to come.

"Maa, what're you looking so down for? We got you out of the cloud costume!" Takeshi laughed, "You should be happy, right, Dad?"

Tsuyoshi looked up from where he was preparing a roll of sushi, a smile Tsuna often saw on Takeshi crossing the man's face. "Of course, I'm glad to help any friend of my son! He doesn't bring too many home, so it gets a little lonely around here with just him."

"Maa, you're the one that won't let me in the kitchen whenever I ask!" The younger Yamamoto replied, though his tone remained light and cheerful. "Besides, the guys are all busy. It's not easy being on the team and doing school at the same time."

The father reached over to give his son a light smack on the arm. "Then you should be getting better marks in school! I know baseball's important to you, but you should at least get a higher mark in class! I heard other kids from your school saying you sleep through class most of the time."

Takeshi laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I can't help it, practice is really early in the morning, and I spend the night trying to do my homework."

"Oh, do you find it hard too, Yamamoto-san?" Tsuna asked, knowing the feeling. He always found school to be harder than it should be, and gave up trying to even understand the material now. "I'm glad I'm not the only one."

"Actually, it's because this son of mine always falls asleep when he tries to do his homework. It's near impossible waking him up most of the time, so I have to just leave him and hope he'll wake up on his own in time for practice the next day." Tsuyoshi said, casting a slight frown in Takeshi's direction. The teen at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed at that, though there was still a smile on his face. The man sighed, though he was glad that his son wasn't someone who would depress over something like that. He hadn't exactly done well in school in his youth either, though he had a valid excuse for it at the time, which he would never tell anyone as long as he lived.

Thinking back to their elementary days together, Tsuna realized that what the elder Yamamoto had said was right; Takeshi almost always slept through class, though he was somehow bright and energetic during lunchtime and breaks. He hadn't really realized it himself, as he usually slept in class himself, or was doodling to pass the time. In fact, there weren't actually too many people in class that often paid attention to their teacher during class. Mostly, it had been their last year that everyone seemed to smarten up and work hard in order to get to the middle school of their choice. Of course, it didn't exactly matter since Nanimori wasn't exactly large, and left basically one middle school for many to attend.

"Well," Tsuna said giving Takeshi a warm smile. "at least you're doing something you love, right? It's good you have something you're good at and enjoy, after all."

The taller teen wrapped an arm around the brunet's shoulders. "Maa, what're you talking like that for? You're good at something too!"

Tsuna gave the other a skeptical look. "Really?" He asked, "And what would that be? Being 'dame'?"

"No, of course not! There's, uh…" Takeshi blinked, and scratched his chin with his free hand. His face brightened as a thought occurred to him. "You're a good friend! I never met anyone like you before."

At the praise, Tsuna's face became flushed and he ducked his head to cover up his shyness. "I'm not anything special…" He mumbled, though he knew he was more _different_ than many other people in his class. "I'm just me…"

"But you know, that's what I like about you most!" Takeshi beamed, "A lot of guys in class are friendly, but they all bully you and act like they aren't. You're the only one that doesn't act like someone you're not, you know? That's makes you my best friend!"

The brunet looked up to Takeshi's face, his own expression filled with surprise. He'd never met a human that had been willing to be his friend, but here was a person that considered him not just a friend, but his _best friend_.

It was such a surprising thing for the young boy that he did the something he hadn't done since his first day of training in Tōno; he fainted.

* * *

'…Wha… Where… am I?' was the first lucid thought that ran across Tsuna's bleary mind. He was extremely reluctant to show any signs of wakefulness, especially seeing as his head was pounding so much it didn't allow much other thought. 'What was I doing…?'

He didn't receive a reply from Sora or Ishou, so it was hard to say. He couldn't remember anything, actually, but he didn't feel as bothered as he felt he should. Feeling the pull of sleep tugging at him, he happily complied and was quickly drifting off again when a heavily pungent scent hit his nostrils with such ferocity that it made him gag and his eyes to water furiously.

"There you go, up you get, boy." A voice coaxed him kindly, and he saw a blurry outline of a figure through his watering eyes. Something told him that he was a man that the brunet was familiar, but he couldn't for the life of him remember who it was at the moment. The man grasped his upper arm, pulling him into a sitting position. "Come on, wake up. I don't want to keep using this. I don't like it anymore than you do, and Takeshi already ran away when I pulled out the feather."

Takeshi? The name ran a familiar bell in his mind, and he fought to remember what the heck was going on through coughs and tears dripping down his cheeks. "W-Wha…? Where am I?" He croaked out, squinting to see his surroundings. He could see a simple Japanese-styled room with some baseball memorabilia scattered around the room. 'This isn't my room…'

"You're in Takeshi's room, upstairs of the restaurant." The man said patiently. "Here, drink this. This'll help you with that hangover of yours."

Something cool was pressed to his lips, and Tsuna obediently drank it, though repulsed by the bitter taste it carried with it. However, it was a rather effective medicine as within minutes, the headache that had plagued the teen all morning was immediately fading away. He gave a small sigh of relief, happy that he was able to think properly again. He turned to the stranger, intending to thank him for helping him, but stopped when he saw it was Tsuyoshi sitting there.

For a moment, Tsuna couldn't help but stare, squint, rub his eyes, then stare again. "Do I know you?"

**Woooow. You are **_**such**_** a 'dame' kid. **Sora quipped, appearing in a burst of flames behind Tsuyoshi. **You saw him just a few minutes ago. How do you forget the old man of your best friend?**

"Best friend…?" the brunet mumbled, narrowing his eyes. "Ah! Yamamoto-oji-san!"

"Seems you're finally awake, Tsunayoshi-kun. I can finally get rid of this now." The sushi chef said, getting up to open the window. It was then that the young teen noticed a smoking object in Tsuyoshi's hand, which he threw out the window onto the roofed tiles below. Taking a cup of tea from next to the spot where he had been sitting, he splashed it over the object, making the smoke disappear. Tsuna blinked as he watched the older man glare at it before giving it a satisfactory nod before returning to his seat, though it was obvious he still kept a close eye on the window just in case it started smoking again.

"Um, Yamamoto-ji-san?" Tsuna asked timidly, "What did you just throw out the window?"

"Oh, that?" Tsuyoshi replied, pointing at the window. "That was just a few feathers. You passed out downstairs, and so we took you up here. You didn't wake up, so I burned some feathers and held it under your nose. Really wakes you up, huh?"

**I bet if you lit something like that up in the house, it'd wake all the animal yōkai in a flash. And then everyone'd beat down the door and crowd up the room. **Sora grunted, glaring hatefully at the window. After a few moments that didn't mean the object spontaneously combusted, the firet huffed and disappeared in another burst of orange flames.

Well, that did explain why there had been a putrid smell filling up his nose and lungs. It was a smell he was sure he'd never forget anytime soon. He was silent before a thought occurred. "You said… I passed out…? Why?"

The older man shrugged. "You didn't look to good when you came in, so it might be you caught a cold. Takeshi passes out like that when he caught a cold but still decided to go to practice. He's a stubborn one, I'll give you that."

Tsuna smiled. "But I think that's one of his good points, you know? Everyone else had long given up on me, but Yamamoto-san stuck with me and insisted on becoming my… my friend."

Tsuyoshi noticed the stutter at the boy's words, and gave a slight frown. He had heard Takeshi tell him a few times after he had started hanging around with the boy since he thought the brunet was very lonely. He didn't have any friends in school apparently, and he was constantly bullied by other kids in his class. His son had a shine in his eye that showed obvious happiness when he talked about his friend, and Tsuyoshi had no doubt that this 'Tsunayoshi' was a good person since his son was usually had a good judgement of character.

When he had met the boy for the first time personally, he had observed the boy through careful eyes. He was quite shy and seemed really nervous to be in the restaurant, if the quick glances were anything to say, and looked about ready to run. But the large brown eyes that were set upon a clear honest face told the man he was a person anyone could rely on. Though he was admittedly clumsy and nearly ruined Tsuyoshi's kitchen, the boy had a good heart that Takeshi was working hard on bringing out into the open more and more.

"_Dad? Is Tsuna up yet? I brought the stuff you told me!_" Takeshi's voice floated up into the bedroom, and there was some shuffling downstairs from what was assumed to be grocery bags being placed on the counter. The restaurant was thankfully empty at the moment, leaving Tsuyoshi time to watch over Tsuna and let Takeshi buy some things for the brunet.

Tsuyoshi gave Tsuna a reassuring pat on the shoulders before standing up and leaving. "Yeah, you can come up now! I'll make you two some tea."

The sound of two sets of footsteps, one going up and one going down, was what Tsuna listened to as he gazed out the window. He turned to see Takeshi standing at the doorway, his expression oddly thoughtful. It created an atmosphere that Tsuna didn't like, so he tried to break it.

"Hi, Yamamoto-san." Tsuna said, offering a smile and a small boy from the bed he was lying on. "I'm sorry for passing out like that, I guess I really am 'dame'."

Takeshi frowned at that, and came closer. He sat down next where Tsuyoshi had been sitting before, the look still on his face. "You're not 'dame' like everyone says. You shouldn't listen to them, you're awesome, you know?" He said.

Tsuna flinched a little at that, which didn't go unnoticed under the taller teen's sharp hazel eyes. "T-That's… It doesn't matter. Nobody likes me. I'm used to that."

"Then what are we?" Takeshi cut in, slamming his hand on the floor between them. The brunet jumped, staring at the other with wide brown eyes. "I told you before, we're best friends! That means I like you more than the other guys in class. You're the only one that doesn't treat me as 'Nanimori's Baseball Ace,' and you're also the one to tell me the truth about the way I was. No one else had ever been like that other than Dad."

"But that wasn't—I only—" Tsuna stammered, trying to find the right way to explain what had happened that time without spoiling his secret, but found that he couldn't. He gave up, looking rather deflated as he looked at his hands in his lap. "Anyone can stay stuff like that. If someone really wanted to be your friend, they could say that."

"Then you don't want to be my friend?" A hurt voice replied, and Tsuna looked up to see the dark-haired teen looking rather depressed. It was the first time he had ever seen the other look that way, and it had surprised him. Did he really treasure their friendship that much? Well, the brunet did, but he had long given up any hope that someone was willing to be his friend.

"N-No, it's not that!" the smaller teen said quickly, waving his hands in front of him to avoid the other getting the wrong idea. "I just—Well, you know how everyone treats me, right? So… I… I never thought someone… would want to be friends with me. Especially someone like you. You're popular, you're good at sports, and you get along with everyone. Me, I'm just… 'Dame-Tsuna.' The kid so clumsy and dumb no one wants to be with."

For a long while, the two were silent. Tsuna was too scared to look up, worried that the other might have realized the strangeness of their 'friendship,' and even though he wanted to stay friends, it would be better to deal with this now rather than later when Tsuna truly treasured their bond too much to let go. It would just hurt to have his first human friend reject him like that.

"Tsuna."

Said brunet flinched, and mentally braced himself for what he knew would be the other withdrawing his words of friendship and telling him to leave. He knew he would say that; what else was there to say?

"Maa, I don't care about stuff like that, haha!"

The teen looked up to see Takeshi's familiar smile on his face with a carefree laugh. "I like you, you want to be friends, so isn't that all that matters? It doesn't matter what others say, I'll always protect you. If everyone else is against you, then I'll just stay right by your side. That's what friends are for, right?"

Tsuna was so surprised by that, he failed to reply that that wasn't exactly how far friends went for each other, but was just glad for the sentiment and just smiled in return. "Yeah."

"_Oi! Takeshi! Get down here! It's time to close up the shop, and you need to take Tsunayoshi-kun home! His mother called._" Tsuyoshi's came from downstairs.

"Yeah! I'll be down in a sec!" Takeshi called back down and turned back to Tsuna. "Ready to go?"

Except, his best friend didn't hear what he had said. In his mind, he was trying to calculate the amount of time that he had spent passed out due to his hangover, which was thankfully gone thanks to whatever it was that Tsuyoshi had given him. "Yamamoto-san… What time is it?" He asked, getting a dreadful feeling in his gut.

"Now? I think it's, uh, three o'clock maybe? Why?" Takeshi said, scratching his head.

"HIIIIEEEE! I NEED TO GET TO THE SHRINE!" Tsuna shrieked, jumping up and dashing out the door and into the hallway, but forgot about the stairs and tumbled all the way down.

Takeshi was right behind him, though he had followed the smaller teen in a much calmer manner. Both father and son came over to check the brunet over. "Whoa, Tsuna, you all right?"

"Y-Yeah, ouch, I think I'm okay." Tsuna replied, rubbing the parts that had struck the stairs and floor. He knew that there was going to be bruises when he woke up in the morning, and he didn't want to have to explain why he had them.

The sushi chef helped the boy up, helping to brush off his clothes. "What's the hurry? Have to go home that quickly?" He asked.

"No, well, I have to go somewhere. That's why my mom wanted me to go home." The brunet hurriedly explained, scurrying over to where his shoes were and jamming his feet into them. "Thanks for helping me and letting me stay here!"

"Wait, I'll come with you!" Takeshi said, coming forward, "That alright, Dad?"

His father nodded. "Of course, I'd be disappointed if you didn't. Make sure he doesn't pass out again."

The teen nodded and grinned, giving his father a thumbs-up sign. "Of course I will, we're best friends after all!"

The words warmed Tsuna's heart where he had been standing near the door, and he felt that maybe being human wasn't quite as bad as he thought it had been.

* * *

"So, where is it that you have to go?" Takeshi asked as they hurried down the street. It was fine for Takeshi's fit body, as he used his long legs to keep up with Tsuna's pace.

"Home. Then I have to get to the Shrine." Tsuna replied, keeping his words curt as he tried to conserve breath to keep on fast walking back to his house.

Takeshi gave the brunet a surprised look, as he had never considered the brunet to be someone who went to the shrine. Not many people their age did anymore. He then brushed it off, since they never really talked about personal matters like that. It didn't matter, it didn't change the way Tsuna was. "The Shrine, huh? I haven't been there in a while."

Now it was the smaller boy's turn to be surprised. "I didn't know you went to the Nanimori Shrine, Yamamoto-san. Don't you just go to practice then home?"

The baseball loving teen shrugged. "Well, I used to when I first started baseball. I went with Dad to go pray to the gods. I always wished for good luck for my games."

At that, Tsuna frowned a little. "Only for games?" He asked.

"Well, yeah." The taller teen replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Is there any other reason to pray?"

"But…" Tsuna paused, not really sure if he should get into it. It was a touchy topic with most people, and he didn't want to somehow offend Takeshi. However, the other prodded him on, and he decided to continue. "Well, I don't think that we should just pray when we want something."

"Really? Why?" Takeshi asked, slightly confused. Wasn't that the point of a shrine? To just pray to ask the gods to grant them something?

Tsuna shook his head. "Well, I'm sure… that they have… feelings, you know? That they might be similar to us. You heard about other countries say their gods used to walk with them? I think of the gods here the same way."

"Like former humans?" Takeshi asked, giving the brunet a strange look.

He gave a half-shrug, avoiding the stare. "I guess something like that."

For a moment longer, the taller teen stared at the smaller one. "I never knew you felt that way, Tsuna. It's a refreshing way of thinking, haha!" Takeshi laughed, and grinned, folding his arms behind his head. "You're right. I shouldn't be just praying for when I want to. I think… that's something my mom told me a long time ago too."

The brunet shifted uncomfortably, knowing he was entering a sensitive topic. He was aware that his friend had lost his mother a few years ago, and despite that grin he always wore despite the tragic event, Tsuna could still see it had been very strained and the tired expression he had when he thought no one was looking. Thankfully, his house came into view at this point, and the boy was grateful for a change of topic. "Ah, there's my house now!"

Takeshi didn't seem to hear, as he seemed to be reminiscing past memories of what the brunet assumed to be of his family when they used to be whole. He knew that his own mother missed Iemitsu during the long months, and even years, that he was absent from their home. Despite the many yōkai who came in and out of the house, they were all aware it wasn't enough to fill that ache left by Iemitsu's absence.

With a worried look to his friend, who merely leaned against the gate to the household, he turned to enter his home. Quickly rushing inside to grab what he needed and get out before he got the mockery he knew he would get for letting Sora spy on Zuki and Nana, as well as the 'kiss' that the bakeneko had forced him and Kamui to do. It still made his cheeks flush in embarrassment knowing the next time he saw Rikuo, he'd probably tease him for it too.

He bustled around the kitchen, which was oddly empty despite the fact he knew his mother loved to cook for the many yōkai who came around just to eat her cooking. It was excellent, and beat many restaurants that Tsuna had ever gone to. He stopped when a person cleared their throat behind him at the kitchen table.

Turning around almost guiltily, though he had no real reason to be, Tsuna slowly looked to see his mother sitting at the table. Kōun sat next to her, hiding a smile behind a teacup. "H-Hi, Mama, Kōun. U-Uh, there's a good reason why I was late, um…"

Kōun giggled, then spluttered as the tea went down her throat the wrong way, and she pounded a small fist against her chest to send the liquid back up. Nana gave her a concerned look, but the Zashiki-Warashi just waved her off. "I'm fine." She coughed.

"It's fine, Tsu-kun." Nana said, giving her son a smile as she got up from her seat and went to the fridge, opening the door and shuffling around some items within. "I know you'd probably forget, so that's why I told you to come home at three. I actually told Yume that you'd be at the shrine at four, so that gives you plenty of time to get there!"

"Only if he doesn't get 'side-tracked,'" Kōun muttered darkly, coughing when Nana turned back to her with a too bright smile on her face.

Tsuna took the large bento from his mother, giving her a quick hug. "Thanks, Mama! I'll be going now, Yamamoto-san said he'd take me to the shrine!"

"I know, that's why I made the bento so big. I made one in there for you, one for your friend, and two for Yume. He never comes by here, so I'm sure he'll appreciate the extra food to make up for your clumsiness!"

"Mama!" Tsuna wailed, flushing hotly with embarrassment. He knew it was true, and he was constantly teased for it at school and home, but he still grew red when his mother sent him off on errands when everyone knew he would cause an accident. He exceeded expectations every single time.

"You better get going, Tsu-kun." Kōun said, turning towards him. "The day's not getting any longer, and I'm sure that friend of yours has been waiting outside for a while."

"HIIIEEE! Yamamoto-san!" The brunet cried, streaking out the door with minimal crashes and made it out the door in one piece. "Bye Mama, Kōun-san!"

The taller dark-haired teen snapped to attention as he heard the door close, letting a smile fill his face as he saw Tsuna leave. "Hey, Tsuna! Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I got my stuff." Tsuna replied, lifting up the bag for the other to see. "Are you sure your dad won't need you back at home?"

"Maa, maa, don't worry about it, my dad's had to close up plenty of times when I stayed for practice. And anyways, he'd be more disappointed that I came back home without making sure you made it to the shrine alright." Takeshi replied, wrapping his arm around the smaller teen's thin shoulders. "Man, you're really thin, Tsuna. Hey, maybe you should play baseball with me! You'll get lots of muscle that way, haha!"

Tsuna thought back to the first time he had been invited to watch one of Takeshi's baseball practices. He had always declined back in elementary school, since he was usually busy with yōkai training or was sleeping when there was practice. But now that they were in junior high and there was a baseball club, the brunet had finally accept and watched for the very first time how his friend actually played. It left him quite traumatized, to say the least, after watching a few of Takeshi's pitches leave smoke and large dents in the fences. Training with Itaku would be way better than playing a 'game' of baseball with baseball ace.

"U-Uh, I'll pass. I'm, um, training for something else right now." The brunet said, trying to excuse himself from the situation.

Unfortunately for him, Takeshi didn't seem to catch that his best friend wanted to drop the topic, and instead went on. "Oh, really? I thought you said you didn't like sports? What are you training for? It's gotta be something really cool, right? Well, nothing beats baseball though."

"N-No! It's really—" The brunet was cut off as they turned a corner, and he collided with a solid body without noticing. With a pained cry, he tumbled backwards, but didn't fall over thanks to Takeshi's fast reflexes catching Tsuna's shoulders. "That scared me… Thanks, Yamamoto-san."

"Tch. Why don't you watch where you're going, idiot?!"

Flinching at the harsh voice, Tsuna turned to see a teen about the same age as them standing there, looking rather angry at having someone bumping into him. Especially a weak looking shortie like Tsuna. The very first thing that Tsuna noticed was the fact that the other had startling silver colored hair and the angry forest green eyes that contrasted each other on the boy's face. The second was the fact that he was currently smoking a cigarette, despite his obvious youth.

The third thing that he noticed was the strange look he was getting from the foreigner, since that was all he could be. He didn't recall ever meeting this stranger before, and from a quick peek in Takeshi's direction, it was obvious that he had never met the strange teen either.

"U-Um… Do I… Know you?" He asked nervously. He was quite sure he had never met him in the human world, but it was hard to say about the yōkai world. As Nana's son, he had features that made him easily recognizable as a human, even if they had never met him before. Was it possible this was an assassin?

The teen's face showed open surprise, letting his jaw drop before scowling and chewing on the end of his cigarette. Tsuna didn't really know what to make of that reaction. Did he know him?

"Maa, I never met someone our age smoke before." Takeshi cut in, oblivious as usual to the tension in the air. "You must not be from Nanimori, Hibari would never let anyone smoke at school."

"Like I'd let some deadbeat tell me what to do!" The silveret snapped, jamming his hands into his pockets, glaring hatefully at the baseball playing teen. He then turned to the brunet, who had been hoping he'd been forgotten. "And you! I've seen you before."

"W-We've met…?" Tsuna asked, still looking confused. He tried wracking his brain, but he couldn't remember for the life of him anyone who looked like the silver haired boy, and his features wouldn't make him easy to forget. But he didn't leave town often, and there hadn't been too many new foreigners moving into town within the last few years. Was this person truly a yōkai then?

_**Or… it could be someone you met under entirely different circumstances. **_Ishou added his bit in, appearing at Tsuna's side.

'Different circumstances? What're you talking about? I've never met him before!' Tsuna replied hastily, shooting the stranger frightened looks. Was he a yōkai or not?! Why wasn't anyone just coming out about it?!

_**Well, just ask how 'Hayato' is. You'll know then.**_ Ishou sighed, shaking his long amber and black haired head at Tsuna. He faded away, saying _**You know, at times, I wonder about you.**_

"H…Hayato…?" Tsuna muttered, his brows furrowing as he tried to remember the name. It struck a chord in his memory, but he couldn't quite tell why. He failed to notice the silver haired teen's look of surprise and the color draining from his features before growing angry and reached into his clothes for something.

"So it _was_ you! I wondered who you were!" The boy snapped, pulling out what appeared to be suspicious dynamite, promptly lighting them with his cigarette before throwing it at the two friends. "Take this!"

The brunet was quickly jerked out of the way by Takeshi, who pulled them to safety away from the explosions. The silveret sneered at them, before pulling out some more dynamite from his clothes and lighting them immediately and tossing them.

"Where's he getting that dynamite from?!" Tsuna shrieked as the dynamite caused small explosions around them.

Takeshi, keeping his arm wrapped around the brunet to keep him beside him, kept on running. It was currently thanks to Takeshi that the brunet had managed to get through the attack unscathed, as it was too much of complete and utter chaos for him to dodge properly. "Maa, what're you talking about? They're just fancy fireworks! I wonder where he got them?"

"Che, you have a bodyguard with you?" The silveret grunted, staring at the fit teen calculatingly. He had already dismissed the brunet as a useless teen that could be easily dealt with, but the raven haired teen was a different matter. He had the body and concentration equal to his own, and wouldn't be easily dealt with. If he wanted to get his answers, he would have to eliminate him first. "Fine, I'll just have to send more after you!"

"Sure, it's good training for me, haha!" Takeshi laughed, easily dodging the flying dynamite with Tsuna.

The brunet didn't share the same sentiment, as he got a sinking feeling in his gut that they have to leave immediately. "Y-Yamamoto-san! Stop! If we keep going, Hibari-san's going to come! And I really have to get going!" He yelled, shaking Takeshi's arm to get his attention.

The other blinked as if he had just remembered he was holding onto Tsuna. "Oh yeah, that wouldn't be such a great idea. I won't be able to pray then, haha! And we don't have anything to defend ourselves with. I guess it's time to make our getaway then!"

"As if I'd let you run!" The teen yelled, hurling the dynamite at an increasing frenzy.

"Sorry, but I'll play with you next time! Hey, you're good at throwing that firework stuff, why don't you join a baseball team? They'd be happy to have a guy like you!" Takeshi called as he continued dodging the explosions.

The assailant grew even more irritated at Takeshi's easy going words and the way that he managed to dodge the explosions so easily. He had personally managed to dispose of any assassin that ever went after him, many of whom were far older than he was, and here was a person no older than himself dodging _all_ of his bombs with ease while protecting the brunet beside him. "Shut up! Like I'd want to hear that from you! And they're not fireworks, they're dynamite! Idiot!"

"Time to make our exit, Tsuna!" Takeshi grinned, slipping into a dark side alley using the rising smoke from the explosions to cover him. He put on a burst of speed to dash through the labyrinth that made up the alleyways, well familiar with them since he often took shortcuts coming home from practice.

After a few minutes of running and coming out into a street quite a ways away from the explosive teen, Takeshi finally let Tsuna go and fell backwards onto the ground. "Phew," the teen panted, "I felt like I ran three home runs! That was a pretty good warm-up, you know? Haha!"

"We… almost died… back there…" Tsuna replied dazedly, his mind dizzy from all the action that had occurred in those short minutes. He still didn't exactly know what had happened, and he didn't know who that silver haired bomber was either. The name 'Hayato' was familiar, but he didn't know what that person had to do with this situation. Well, he could probably ask a yōkai. They would probably know.

Speaking of yōkai…

"HIIIIEEE! I'M LATE!" Tsuna shrieked, jumping up and looking around frantically. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AT THE SHRINE AT FOUR!"

"Hmm… we still might have time. We left my house at three, and it usually takes about ten minutes to walk to your house, and half an hour to walk to the shrine from there." Takeshi said, trying to calculate the time in his head. "That should give us about twenty minutes to get there."

"But we ran in that… person!" Tsuna clutched his head in between his hands, squeezing his head in hopes that a miracle will happen and get him to the shrine on time. Yume was someone who didn't like when people were late when they were expected, and he didn't have a particular fondness for humans either. "Who knows how long it'll take to get to the shrine now!"

Takeshi leaned back on his hands, using one to scratch his head. He looked around the neighborhood they were in. "Maa, maa, I don't think we're too far away from the shrine. Maybe if we hurry, we can make it."

Feeling very drained, Tsuna fell back onto the ground. "Maybe you could, but not me." He groaned. "My legs are still shaky from all those explosions back there."

"Well, I'll just carry you then. It's no big deal, I still have enough energy to get us there. And it's good exercise for me too! I spent a lot of today with you, after all."

"Sorry about that." The brunet replied, instantly feeling guilty. He knew how much his friend treasured baseball even more than his life, "You were planning on training today, weren't you?"

"Maa, don't worry about it. It's fun hanging out with you too! You're my only best friend, so I should spend equal time with you and baseball! A win-win situation! Haha!" Takeshi grinned, and the cheerful words made the corners Tsuna's lips lift a little despite the situation. The taller teen got up and brushed the dirt off his pants, then reached out for Tsuna's hand. "Come on, aren't you in a hurry?"

"Un!" Tsuna nodded, grabbing a hold of Takeshi's hand, letting himself be pulled onto the taller teen's broad back. He felt strange being piggy-backed like this, but there was no way that he would be able to keep his stamina up and make it to the shrine without accidentally changing into yōkai form without notice. He didn't want to risk the friendship he had made with Takeshi.

* * *

It took a little more time than Takeshi had thought it would, but they had finally made it to the _base_ of the shrine.

"Y-Yamamoto-san! I can walk from here! It's not that far, really!" Tsuna protested, trying to get off of Takeshi's back.

Takeshi laughed, ignoring his best friend's attempts to escape. "Maa, you want to walk about all these stairs? They're pretty steep, you know."

"I-It's fine! How're you going to get back to your house? I'm not carrying you there!" Tsuna said, though he knew perfectly well it wouldn't be hard if Ishou took over. No way was he could to let Sora take Takeshi home, if the latter passed out.

**Hey!** The fire yōkai said, his voice hurt. **I wouldn't burn him! What do you think I am?**

_**A burning matchstick**_. Was Ishou's immediate reply, followed by, _**You set yourself up for that one.**_

Though Tsuna didn't want to add fuel to the fire, he couldn't help agreeing with Ishou. He could feel irritation coming from the fire yōkai.

"Maa, maa, don't worry about it. If I collapse, I can just call my old man to come and get me." Takeshi replied.

Tsuna blinked at the answer. "But… if you collapse, won't you pass out?" At the silence following his words, he knew the other hadn't entirely thought that plan through.

"I'll be in your care then, haha!"

Or maybe he was the air-headed idiot that a lot of people said he could be sometimes.

* * *

A/N : Any religious references I have made in this story, I mean no offense (just in case, I really have no idea, but better safe than sorry). Whether they're true or not, it's just for the sake of the story. Nothing has any basis.

I wasn't really sure what Tsuna actually calls Tsuyoshi in the canon, cause for here I already use 'Yamamoto-san' for how Tsuna calls Takeshi, and it'd be just way too confusing to have him call the two Yamamotos 'Yamamoto-san' when there aren't any pictures. Of course, Sora and Ishou aren't going to be as polite (is calling someone oji-san after their name even considered polite?), they are just calling him 'old man' like they will any other older character like Timoteo or Iemitsu. If you happen to know a better way of calling someone else's parent in Japanese, please let me know. My knowledge in suffixes is really bad and I seem to have severe short-term memory loss often. I feel like Dory at times :\ (if you don't get what I'm talking about, don't worry about it)

This was supposed to be another 'bonding moment' between Takeshi and Tsuna, but it ended up being kinda mushy (to me). I think I've heard of too much shoujo manga from people in my school. It was supposed to be a 'manly' friendship talk, but when I re-read it, it somehow felt like they were confessing their feelings for each other and the hero promises to protect the heroine. I am so sorry I lowered your masculinity Tsuna ;_; If someone actually got a better way of doing that… more manly… could you suggest me an idea? I'm really terrible at bonding moments.

Alright, this is the last of the fixed up chapters, and I will finally be continuing this story after... half a year?! Aw man, I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll do my best to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but it should (hopefully) be up within a week. I don't generally have homework at home.


	5. Friendship

"Huff… urgh! Gah, why… are people… so heavy?" Tsuna panted, half dragging, half carrying Takeshi's unconscious body off the path.

Unlike what it first appeared to be, the taller, dark-haired teen wasn't dead or injured. Tsuna wasn't so dense he didn't notice that Takeshi was quickly getting exhausted carrying the two of them up the stairs. Tsuna knew that he didn't have the strength to carry someone bigger and heavier than him, so he reluctantly allowed his friend to carry them safely to the top before helping Takeshi take a 'nap' with a little help from Tsuna's quick fist.

**Not bad, not bad.** Sora hummed, checking over the unconscious teen's body. **A nice clean blow, much better than the first time you tried knocking someone unconscious.**

'Well, when I'm only told what to do, how do you expect me to do well?' Tsuna huffed back at him, puffing his cheeks out and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

**I can honestly say I didn't expect you to push him over a cliff.** The fire yōkai deadpanned, and Tsuna flushed a little at that. **There were tons of cliffs on the mountains around, hard to believe you 'forgot.'**

Tsuna grunted a little more, positioning Takeshi's body carefully against a broad tree trunk. The presence of **Fear** frightened off most animals, so he didn't have to worry about something rabid attacking his friend. If a human came by, they would be able to help the teen find his way home somehow, and yōkai knew better than to enter Yume's territory.

Speaking of which, Tsuna got up to look at the well-kept shrine that still had shiny coat of red paint on its walls. Checking the place over with his eyes and finding nothing out of place, he gave a small smile and a satisfied smile. "Yosh, looks like there won't be any repair work needed today."

"Wrong, boy! There's plenty o' work t'be done!"

The strange style of speech made the corner of Tsuna's lips twitch a little, though there was no humour in it. 'Ah, that must be Yume-san. He's the only one with that kind of dialect.'

If anyone asked how they would describe Yume no Ryū, each and every yōkai in Namimori would say he's just like a cantankerous old man. He was a yōkai who didn't like taking part in group events in town, and did not have a fondness for humans. Since a few years ago, the only humans who ever came to the shrine were elderly folk, tourists, or ne'er-do-wells coming by. The dragon yōkai didn't mind the elderly citizens as they paid proper respect to the once popular shrine, but he didn't like the tourists with their hustle and bustle, loud voices and the small bits of garbage they left in their wake. The ones he particularly despised were the gangster type of teenagers who came when their parents kicked them out of their home or they had been 'removed with a warning' from their former hideout. They usually left a massive amount of cigarette butts lying around the shrine, junk food wrappers, and various other things they hid in the shrine. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough strength to attack them so he was forced to watch them desecrate his precious shrine day after day.

With the years of neglect and prayers for the gods came by less and less, people forgot what Yume represented for them. There weren't many around anymore that could tell a curious person that the god of the Namimori Shrine was someone who granted them good dreams and hopeful futures of the people, and could push people forward when it seemed like they wouldn't be able to. When a disastrous event was coming, he would send a dream to various people trusted in the village, and they could thus prepare for it properly. He was highly thought of back when the town had first been built from a small village in times long past, and was relied upon during the town's development. They had left offerings as thanks, and many of the villagers had come up and cleaned the shrine daily with much enthusiasm and vigor.

Yet as time went on, and the Supreme Commander took charge of the yōkai of Japan in Edo, the peacetime eventually turned the villagers away. The shrine was not cleaned or visited as often, and no more did the people come to offer their thanks and prayers to the land god. He was eventually forgotten for many years, until Namimori was formed, and the shrine was restored. Upon its completion, a few people of the new town had come up to the shrine and offered their prayers of a new god that Yume did not know of. He was disappointed to find that the humans had forgotten him, and were praying to a different god instead.

Disappointment quickly turned to anger as Yume saw humans begin to visit the shrine. Not the same humans who had been respectful, though they had prayed to someone else, but had trashed the shrine and his home for hundreds of years. They began burning white sticks that burned and gave off fumes that reminded the dragon yōkai of burning flesh. They drank from clear containers that made them become loud and rambunctious, creating hatred in the land god. He didn't mind other yōkai of the clan too much; they knew full well the consequences of angering him. But the humans, he had decided, should just stay away.

"Yer late." The dragon yōkai's voice grumbled from within the shrine, sounding irritated as though he had woken from a nap, but didn't seem as angry Tsuna had thought he might be.

Tsuna ducked his head. Though he couldn't see the Yume himself, that didn't the elder yōkai couldn't see him. Dreams were a powerful thing, and was much strong than many people perceived them to be. It also didn't hurt that Yume had threatened to share the hanyō's private dreams that they both knew would embarrass the brunet if anyone found out, especially the yōkai.

"S-Sorry," Tsuna stammered, "I ran into a little trouble. There was this guy who—"

"I don give a damn!" Yume boomed suddenly, making Tsuna flinch slightly and Takeshi turning a little in his sleep. "The issue here is yer late, no excuses boy. Yer a man, take 'sponsibility!"

The small brunet shrunk a little. The dragon yōkai was always intimidating, no matter how often Nana had assured him that he treated the boy better than many others in Namimori. He saw no real reason why, and he didn't particularly believe the truth in those words, as much as he wished to. "Y-Yes, Yume-san."

There was a pause, but the hanyō knew better. More likely than not, the old yōkai was thinking up a huge list of chores for him to do. It was getting close to the evening, which meant it would be getting quite chilly. Not many people like going out during the springtime, so it wasn't likely there was going to be any visitors for the shrine. And seeing as he would be carrying out his punishment all week, which added up to being a _very_ big list of chores. He sighed as he went into the shrine to change into a kimono and hakama, not wanting to get his clothes dirty. Sometimes there was hard work to do, and it often meant tearing his clothes. Luckily, there was always a set of clothes fit for him at the shrine for him to change into.

"A'right. Get rida t' butts over here." The land god grouched out once he had changed, "A human left 'em here earlier. What style is it dying yer hair gray? Idjit."

At the rather unique description, Tsuna froze mid-step. 'Calm down, it can't be him. Yume-san didn't say he was the same age as me, it could an old man.'

"Ya know 'im? Looks 'bout yer age. Bit taller, though." Yume added, as though he knew exactly what the brunet thought, which was the likely case. If someone could peer into dreams, what stopped them from reading thoughts too?

Tsuna didn't even need to turn as he felt a darkness swirl around next to him, signifying Ishou's appearance. _**You should be careful to not give us away. Want to switch places for now in case he comes back here? **_The illusion yōkai said.

It was hard not to think suspicious thoughts, but the brunet was quite reluctant to allow the switch. Though they were both aware the taller, more powerful part of himself could take over since the moon was starting to peek over the trees, it wouldn't be without a fight. The little human part of Tsuna was developing a power unique to his human self, and it would be capable of rivaling yōkai in likely a few years if he honed his strength. '… What will you do?' He asked uncertainly.

_**It's not like I can run. **_Ishou snorted, crossing his arms in front of his lean chest. _**That old snake's standing right there, he can get to Mama faster than anyone else here can. And if I did, I'm not leaving **_**him**_** to be at his mercy.**_

The brunet gave a small smile, thankful that the other had somehow manage to strike his own strange friendship with Takeshi one night while patrolling the town. It was obvious that Ishou was different from any other person that the young Yamamoto had ever met, and had quickly forged a fast attachment to the hanyō despite the reluctance from his father. Tsuna was glad his shadowy counterpart had found the other interesting, as well as willing to protect him. They were one and the same in the end, after all.

'Alright. Just don't cause any trouble for Yamamoto-oji-san. Yamamoto-san is the only family he has left, after all.' The brunet said softly, casting a regretful look at Takeshi. 'We need to protect them.'

_**They're not completely helpless, **_Ishou pointed out, _**but I'll get him home later. Just go and rest up. Weren't you complaining you didn't have enough time to rest or study for that test?**_

For a moment, Tsuna wasn't quite sure what he was talking about. A test? He didn't remember a test being given… Oh wait… Nezu-sensei had given them a short notice about a big unit exam counting for twenty percent of their grade was in two days, and had given them no criteria on what it was on. Even though the brunet was fully capable of studying and attempting to pass the test despite the obvious certainty he would fail from his teacher and peers, recent events had prevented him from even remembering to crack open his textbook and review.

Ishou immediately took advantage of the moment, wrapping his **Fear** around Tsuna and slowly easing him into unconsciousness. He could have just forced his way into control, but Rikuo had told him one night when Tsuna had long passed out from drinking that it was easier to surprise the human part and push them into unconsciousness. It just made things so much more easier, and there was less yelling when the other woke up and realized what had happened. _**Don't worry about Yamamoto, I'll bring him home. He's a friend, and we promised we won't let humans get hurt.**_ He said as Tsuna's eyes fluttered. Soon, the innocent brown orbs narrowed and changed to a narrow pair of amber colored eyes, his hair growing longer and changing to a lighter shade of brown until it more resembled a few shades lighter close than a burnt orange.

"Hm. It feels like forever since I've let myself loose." Ishou yawned, stretching his arms behind his head. He glanced at the pile of cigarette butts lazily, but secretly gave them a close scrutinizing. If the short memory he got of Hayato was right, then these butts here were the same ones the silveret smoked. "Damn, looks like he's going to come here too."

The dragon yōkai's **Fear** drew nearer, catching the oranget's attention. He didn't come out, but Ishou knew that Yume could see what was going on outside perfectly well. "What's th' holdup? Ya got clean up t' do. Git t' it!"

"I know, old lizard. I'm going to get the broom. You really expect me to pick all these up by hand?" Ishou said, sarcasm lacing his words. He scoffed and was about to turn when the other spoke up.

"Fine. Do that."

Confused, the hanyō looked in Yume's direction. "What?" He replied dumbly, not understanding what the other said. What did he mean, 'do that?'

Yume sounded exasperated, like a tired parent telling their child for the hundredth time he couldn't get the toy he wanted. "Pick all them pieces of garbage by hand. It won't take ya long, and they're small. 'Sides, th' broom's broken."

Ishou just stared at Yume's direction. "Then get it fixed." He said, placing a fist on his hip and leaning on one leg. "It isn't that hard, just get new straw and re-do the broom."

"You ken do it then!" The dragon hissed, obviously annoyed. "Now git t' work! Time's a wastin'!"

The yōkai boy huffed as the presence of the land god left, probably either to take a nap or make some tea. Whatever it was that old yōkai did these days. He turned to look at the area that was littered in cigarette butts, really not sure if he should be impressed or disapproving of the massive amount on the ground. _**It really looks like enough for a group of people to chain smoke. How much does this guy smoke in a minute?**_

He scratched his head, wondering what he should do. If Yume was telling the truth, which he usually didn't since he liked making more work for others, then the broom was broken and he would have to figure out a new way of cleaning all of the litter up. Besides the used cigarettes, there was a bunch of empty chip bags, plenty cans of soft drinks, and wrappers of energy bars everywhere. "What kind of guy leaves so much garbage lying around? Such a lazy guy." Ishou sighed, scratching his head. He looked around, wondering if there was something he could substitute for a broom. While he had no doubts that the broom was fine, the small old-fashioned broom used at the shrine for decades wouldn't be very much use for cleaning up this kind of garbage.

_**Hm, those tree branches are pretty bushy. I wonder if they'd make a good broom…**_ Ishou thought, staring at the trees surrounding the shrine. They were quite plentiful, so a missing branch or two wouldn't be missed.

**Oi, oi,** Sora cut in, appearing on a thick tree branch. **If you do that, some tree yōkai is gonna come after us. Not really a problem for me, though. I can just burn them.** The yōkai cackled evilly as he let orange fireballs blaze merrily in the palms of his hands, obviously planning on having some 'fun' with the nature yōkai in Namimori.

'Don't do that!' Tsuna yelled, standing at the bottom of the tree Sora was sitting in. 'Mama would yell at us, and you know how scary she gets when she's mad!'

The three of them gave an involuntary shiver at the thought. Nana was not as docile as all the other humans thought she was.

Sora's fiery head of hair died down a little, obviously thinking of the (many) times he had gotten Nana angry at them. **Shut up!** Sora grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest moodily. **You don't need to tell me that.**

Ishou smirked, _**Yeah, he's gotten yelled at than Tsuna and I put together. You sure you don't represent all the bad people everywhere?**_

**Pipe down, you! I might get angry a lot, but it's better than being a shady guy like you!** Sora shot back, pointing an accusatory finger at said 'shady' yōkai.

_**I'm not 'shady,'**_ Ishou replied smugly, a smirk on his face pointed at his fiery counterpart. _**I'm a better leader than you are.**_

Tsuna had a sinking feeling that this conversation wasn't going anywhere good, and it might result in spending another night with a strong headache after the two 'battle' it out. It wasn't a pleasant experience, and unfortunately, it happened all too often since the brunet was convinced that they would never take it so far.

He never did learn the saying, 'never say never.'

'Can we just get back to work!' Tsuna yelled at the top of his voice, hoping that the other two would stop and actually listen to him for once. He might be human and therefore weaker, but he still had better sense than the two of them put together!

Sora grumbled a little, but thankfully kept whatever he wanted to say to himself. They all knew that if they dawdled, Yume would definitely tell Nana, and Nana wouldn't be happy that her only son wasn't 'being a perfect son and helping out the community.' Of course, it went unsaid that said community was made up of characters considered bad by the human population, but that was beside the point.

Snapping a branch off a tree, Ishou tested it by brushing it against the ground. Once he found it satisfactory, he took it back to the spot where all the cigarettes were lying and started sweeping them into a neat little pile. "How can people smoke this much? Even the old farts in Rikuo's place don't smoke all the time." He grumbled, seeing more cigarettes lying around that he missed. Curiously enough, he noticed that they all looked very much the same. "The hell? They all smoke the same brand or something?"

"The hell're you doing?!" A voice snarled at him.

Ishou blinked and turned around to where the voice had come from, the entrance to the shrine. Standing there was a familiar looking teen with silver hair smoking on a cigarette. Upon closer inspection, the yōkai realized that it was the very same one as the ones on the floor he was cleaning. "Cleaning your mess?" He replied, perfectly serious. He then realized something and grunted, pointing his 'broom' accusingly at the other. "Why am I cleaning this up?! If this is your mess, take care of it!"

"Why? No one owns it, it's just some abandoned shrine nobody comes to anymore. Who cares if there's a little garbage here." The other shrugged, spitting out the cigarette and squishing it into the ground with his foot. The hanyō boy could feel his eyebrow twitch at the motion. Noticing the stare, the teen stepped closer, a taunting glare on his face. "What, want to be a goody-two shoes or something? Feh, pathetic. I can take you on no problem."

"As if, moron." Ishou replied, turning back and sweeping his little pile tidily. "As if someone like you can hurt me. What the hell can you do, throw a rock?"

The silveret snarled, whipping out more cigarettes and lighting them before sticking them in his mouth. "I'll teach you to respect your superiors, idiot!"

Off at the side while the whole conversation was going on, Sora was chuckling amusedly in his tree while Tsuna looked on in horror. 'He's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me. He's gonna—'

**Shut up. We can take him, no problem. We didn't spend all that time cleaning clothes and chasing Itaku around for nothing. We know how to control our powers. Besides, you got that weird 'feeling' of yours. Protects you every time, don't it? **Sora snapped, being oddly calming for once. Tsuna figured it was probably because he was going to get to watch a fight right now, something that never failed to bring a smile to the firet's face. **And anyways, you look too weak. No way he's going to remember who you are.**

'I had a feeling you were going to say that…' Tsuna chuckled half-heartedly, feeling his fear drifting away. 'I don't like being weak, but if it keeps dangerous guys like him away, that's ok.'

Sora snorted at the thought, but made no other comment as they watched the smoking teen throw out a long red stick that was glowing at the end. '_**Is that…?**_'

Not wanting to take the chance of having the weird stick object hitting him and doing something weird, Ishou quickly slipped away into the shadows. Thankfully, there were plenty around when it was close to evening with the surrounding trees around.

'Hey, Ishou!' Tsuna called, 'Don't let him see Yamamoto-san!'

Said human was still unconscious at this point of time, half hidden under some bushes Tsuna had hastily stuffed him under. He wouldn't be easily seen with the growing shadows around him, but if one looked carefully enough, one could see a part of his leg poking out of the bush. Seeing as he wasn't awake, he had no way of defending himself against whatever the silveret had in store.

Ishou grumbled something about helpless humans and the needy ways, but stopped as the red stick exploded where he had been standing before. "Oi! What do you think you're doing?! Do you know who has to clean that up?"

"Like I give a damn!" The teen yelled back, pulling out more sticks from within his clothing. "Take this!"

Ishou, Sora and Tsuna gave a collective yell (high pitched shriek, in the silveret's opinion), as the sticks exploded dangerously close to the shrine. "Don't throw that there, what are you doing that for?!" Ishou yelled, split between angry and panicky. "What the heck are you throwing anyways, bombs?"

"Are you blind? They're dynamite!" The bomber growled, waving a few lit sticks for emphasis. "An idiot like you should be able to tell what they look like!"

"How many people actually _use_ dynamite in this day and age? Though I can't say I know anyone really who uses those modern weapons like guns and stuff." Ishou shouted back, though he mumbled the last part to himself. When he thought carefully about it, he realized that since yōkai were beings who could use **Fear**, that was the main weapon they all used. They didn't actually rely on whatever piece of equipment they favored in using.

The hanyō teen didn't seem to notice that what he said had ticked off the teen, since the silveret gnashed his teeth together in anger, pulling out a large amount of bombs from within his clothes. He lit them all in succession, throwing them all in Ishou's direction yelling, "Shut up! They're a better weapon than a branch!"

**It's not like we actually need to **_**use**_** a branch to fight.** Sora muttered, growing irritated. **Oi, long-hair! Lemme fight 'im, I can burn all those dynamite off him before he can take a puff!**

Ishou smirked, hiding in the shadows as the smoking teen searched for him yelling profanities and throwing the random bomb. _**Like I need your help. A little stick of dynamite isn't going to kill me. There have been worse things I've killed, and none of them were human.**_

'But don't hurt him!' Tsuna cried, looking at the swearing teen with some hesitation as a particularly nasty curse was spat out. 'He attacked us, but… He can't be a bad guy. He saved me back on the mountain, so we should return the favor, right?'

Neither yōkai bothered to remind the other that they _had_ repaid the debt by saving him from the assassin in the mountain. It didn't matter, since something far more important was starting to happen.

"Aah~ Wow, that was a nice nap! Aaha, I wonder where I am? Doesn't look like home."

"Oh crap!" Ishou hissed, turning to the moving figure starting to wake up under the bushes. He cast a quick glance over at the silveret, hoping that he hadn't heard the voice.

Unfortunately, he did as he turned around to glare at the shadows, his jade eyes narrowing on the shifting bush that was appeared to be growing a pair of arms and legs. And the voice… It was too familiar. He was sure he had heard it a few hours earlier…

"You!" He yelled, surprise and anger colouring his voice. He pointed an accusing finger at the bush. "You're that idiot with that weak kid earlier!"

"I am?" Takeshi replied, sitting up now. He picked a few pieces of leaves and twigs out of his hair, not looking perturbed that he had just met up with someone who had attacked him a few short hours ago. "Oh yeah! The old man! Haha, you okay? You look a little tired, I can take you to the hospital if you need it!"

The silveret snarled, whipping out more bombs from his clothes. "I was going to let you go, but I'll get rid of you now; you're pissing me off!"

"Hey, do you like baseball?" Takeshi said casually, as if he ignored the remark. "It's my favourite sport of all time! We should play together sometimes, it's more fun with friends to play with!"

"Who would want to play a stupid game with an idiot like you!?" The silveret snarled, "And I'm not 'friends' with you!"

Ishou blinked as he sat hiding in a tree with Sora and Tsuna, scratching his cheek. _**What should we do? Leave them?**_

'No! Don't! He'll kill Yamamoto-san! Those bombs are dangerous!' Tsuna yelled, pointing wildly at them.

Takeshi's face turned wistful, and he folded his arms behind his head in thought. "You know, you look a lot like an angry kitten I saw once. He always hissed at me whenever I came near him. Once I started giving him milk, he was tame though, haha! Oh! Do you want some milk too?" The teen said, giving a friendly smile to the other.

"As if I need something as stupid as 'milk'!" The bomber yelled, growing even more agitated. "I'll kill you here and now!"

The other two teens watched with curious eyes as the silveret pulled out an even larger amount of dynamite from somewhere in his clothes. "Whoa, that's a cool trick! How do you hide so many?" Takeshi grinned, looking genuinely interested. "I couldn't even tell you had them on you!"

The other teen grinned maliciously, "They'll also knock you out in an instant! Take this, Double Bomb!"

"Okay, I think I'll stop you here." Ishou interrupted, appearing in between the two. "I really need to be getting things done, and you're just getting me behind on my work. And those bombs aren't toys, so you'd better stop playing with them."

"Ah? Toys?" The bomber replied, his eyes narrowed and eyebrow twitching. "I'll show you what's a 'toy'! I'm still developing this, but it should be a good test on you! Triple Bomb!"

Takeshi and Ishou blinked as a massive amount of lit dynamite flew up in the sky, some of them falling towards them. However, due to the excessive amount that the silveret had to light and throw in succession, quite a few of them fell around his feet as well.

Alarm and fear was obvious on the bomber's face, and he started swearing and panicking about. "Crap! There's no time to defuse them, am I going to die in a place like this-!?"

Unlike the silveret, Ishou and Takeshi were relaxed and calm. "Wow, aren't these some pretty looking fireworks, Ishou?"

"Yeah, but I think they'll look better in the sky. A bit close to look at them properly."

Noticing how calm the other two were, the bomber roared at them, "The hell is wrong with you idiots! We're going to die!"

Ishou sighed, "And this is why I told you they weren't toys." Using the branch he used as a broom, he swiftly smacked them high up into the air, where they exploded in a burst of smoke. In a few seconds, he managed to clear all the dynamite around Takeshi. However, the yōkai realized it would take too much time to hit all the dynamite up into the air. Leaping forward, he dashed at the bomber with all the speed he could muster and yanked him clear of the bombs by his collar. The bombs sent up a large plume of rocks, dirt and tiny pebbles that rained around the three.

Once the cloud of dirt had settled, it revealed a grinning Takeshi, smirking Ishou, and a disbelieving silveret. "How… How did you do that?! No one's ever managed to escape my bombs before!"

**Ha! There's been no one like us before! **Sora guffawd from his branch, laughing at the teen's pale face.

On the other hand, Tsuna's face was mirroring the silveret's, although for different reasons. 'Ishoouuu! That was dangerous, he could've died you know! Can't you be a bit more gentle with humans?!'

In reply, the yōkai stuck his tongue out in Tsuna's general direction.

"You're as nimble as ever, ne, Ishou?" Takeshi laughed, completely ignoring the large hole in the ground. "You should really come play baseball with me, they'd like someone fast like you!"

"Running isn't everything to baseball, you know." Ishou replied, "Besides, there's plenty of good runners in town."

"Aw, come on." The easy-going teen grinned, "You're better than a lot of other guys. Not many have the speed you got; it's not like you have anything better to do, right?"

A protesting voice cut in scathingly, "Could you not talk as though I wasn't here?"

"Oh, right." Ishou said, as if noticing him for the first time. He lifted the other up until they were face to face, inspecting the other intently. "You're a foreigner, aren't you?"

The silveret wrenched his shirt out of the yōkai's grip. "So what if I am?" He grumbled, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Ishou blinked. "Nothing. I just haven't met many foreigners around here, especially one like you. Where you from?"

Making a face like he was getting a nail pulled, the other grudgingly replied, "Italy. I'm a quarter Japanese."

"Oh! Is that how you speak Japanese so well?" Takeshi asked, his mood bright and cheery.

"No one asked you, baseball idiot!" The bomber snapped, quickly growing irritated again. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, jamming it into his mouth. He eyed Ishou like a wary animal, analyzing him. "How did you learn to move like that?"

The yōkai shrugged. "If I didn't, I would've died. You also could've died if I couldn't move like this. Just so you know, I trained a long time to do this."

"That wasn't what I asked!" The silveret yelled, then immediately clammed up. He shuffled around a little, chewing on his cigarette. After a moment, he looked he had decided something and turned to face Ishou head on. "Because you saved my life, I owe you a debt. My name is Gokudera Hayato, also known as Smokin' Bomb Hayato. I work as a freelance assassin. If you have anyone you want me to kill, just give me the name."

"Whoa, you play that game too, Hayato?" Takeshi asked, "I thought Ishou was the only one around who did!"

"Game? What game are you talking about? Assassination is a dangerous job idiots like you wouldn't understand!" Hayato growled, his fingers twitching to grab his dynamite.

Ishou stepped in between them, not wanting another fight to start. Someone would get curious with all the explosions, if they weren't already. "Alright, alright, break it up. Yamamoto, I thought I told you not to talk about it. It's not a kind of game he should be involved in."

"Ah, sorry, sorry. I forgot, haha!" Takeshi replied, scratching the back of his head. "It's just that he's the first person outside of Namimori to be in a similar game as you!"

"Game?" Hayato asked suspiciously. "What kind of game are you talking about?"

Takeshi wrapped a lean arm around Ishou's shoulders. "This guy here is the young heir of a yakuza group! They're really strong people, they fight all these other guys all the time! Ishou is the strongest out of all of them!"

"I'm not the strongest, Yamamoto." Ishou replied, rolling his eyes. Really, he told him this countless times, but it seemed the teen always forgot. He just learned to go along with it, since it was impossible to interrupt the other's pace. "I'm still training. And no one has fought in a long time, I told you that."

"Really? I thought I heard you telling Dad about a bad guy coming to town the other day." Takeshi asked, confused.

While to two talked, Hayato was giving a calculating look at Ishou. From the 'game' that the Takeshi had talked about, Hayato was fairly certain that it wasn't just a 'game.' From the speed and power that the bomber had witnessed for a few moments, it was obvious his strength was the real deal. It was possible he really was a part of a yakuza group. Though a yakuza and mafia group weren't all the same, they had a similar rule. The rule that in a fight, the loser must follow the winner. But he had to make sure, he wasn't going to be following some kid around in some stupid 'game.'

Secretly tucking a hand inside his pants pocket, he grabbed a hold of a stick of dynamite. In a flash, he whipped it out, lit it with the cigarette before throwing it directly into the yōkai's face. There was a metallic swish before the dynamite fell onto the ground with a dull thump, a burnt piece of the fuse falling next to it. His eyes widening in surprise, Hayato could only gape as Ishou brandished a well-kept sword in his hand with practiced ease. There was no doubt, a kid skillful as that had to be in _some_ group. There was no way he would be allowed to be left alone.

"Maa, Ishou, still good at the sword like always, huh? You never stop practicing!" Takeshi said, eyeing the sword in the yōkai's hands.

Ishou smirked. "Well, I could say the same about your baseball. All day long, for so many years. And you never get tired of it."

"Nope!" Takeshi laughed, "Baseball is my life, you know? If I didn't have baseball, I wouldn't know what to do with myself!"

"Ishou-sama!"

Both teens looked down in surprise to see Hayato prostrating himself on the ground in front of them. "What are you doing, Gokudera?" Ishou asked, completely confused.

"It is obvious that you belong to a powerful yakuza group, and that idiot must be right that you are the young heir! Even though the lowly me tried to kill you, you saved me! As such, I will follow you in whatever you do! I will be your servant, Ishou-sama!" Hayato declared, his head still touching the ground.

"Wow, I didn't think he get the knack of it so fast! I still have a hard time understanding the rules, haha!" Takeshi chuckled, still leaning on Ishou.

Looking up, Hayato's expression instantly turned angry to see Takeshi's arm still wrapped around Ishou's shoulders. "Oi, idiot baseball freak! Get your arm off of Ishou-sama!" He yelled, pulling out some more dynamite.

"Stop it." Ishou said, staring pointedly at Hayato. Once the dynamite were put away, Ishou relaxed. "Alright, I don't know where this 'Ishou-sama' came from, but it's stopping right now. I already have enough servants, I don't need another one. You need more training, anyways. I can't trust you if you can't even fight properly."

Now, Hayato had a kicked puppy expression on his face, and he opened his mouth to protest, but Takeshi cut in. "That's kind of harsh, isn't it, Ishou? After all, I doubt you'll go up against any tough guys."

"No, that's not what I'm saying." Ishou said, shaking his head. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "How do I put this? It's obvious that Gokudera has experience in fighting. But it's not enough. Our group is all about trust, and it's the one thing that makes us so powerful. But you, Gokudera, you don't have trust in yourself yet."

"W-What are you talking about?" Hayato replied, surprised.

The yōkai pointed at the dynamite still lying on the ground. "When we were fighting, you hesitate a split-second before you threw your bombs. You need to be able to trust your body to make the move before you command it to. I don't blame you, though. Bombs require precision and timing, which you have. But you don't consider them to be an extension of yourself, just a weapon you happen to use."

Hayato looked down at the ground, nodding slowly as he ran the words over in his mind. "…Then… What should I do so I can be of use to you?"

"Go back to Italy." Ishou replied simply.

The silveret's head shot up in disappointment and surprise, "Wha-?!"

But the hanyō held up a hand, stopping the bomber. "Go back to Italy and train more. Ask the person who taught you how to use bombs to teach you more. And then, in one year, come back and show me how much stronger you've gotten."

Hayato's face brightened into a smile, then a look of strong determination set in. "Yes, Ishou-sama! I will! I'll go back to Italy immediately and train until I can become your right-hand man! I won't let you down!"

"Whoa, wha—" Ishou stammered, not catching onto what he was saying, but it was too late. The bomber's head of silver hair had already disappeared as he raced back down the stairs, presumably to the airport. He scratched his head, not quite sure what to do. He supposed he could go and catch up to him easily, but he didn't exactly know what to say. He motivated the bomber like he wanted, but he seemed like he gave a bit of the wrong message as well.

Takeshi whistled appreciatively. "He sure can run fast, almost as fast as you!"

The corner of Ishou's lip twitched. "You think so?" He turned to look at the teen. "What do you think of him?"

"He's a good guy," Takeshi said thoughtfully, "'cause I know plenty of guys who use fireworks like him, and they're all good guys! Haha!"

'Yamamoto-san…' Tsuna said mournfully. 'How do you not understand the world around you when you're sharp in baseball?'

"But you know, you guys remind me of me and Tsuna." Takeshi continued.

"Really?" Ishou turned around fully to regard the other. "In what way?"

The teen paused, and his eyes got a faraway look. "That time four years ago when we first became friends, and Tsuna was the first one to tell me the truth about the kind of guy I was. The first one to actually become my friend." He pulled himself back to the present and flashed the hanyō a brilliant grin. "You gave him hope and a way to step forward, like Tsuna did for me. I bet you can change him just like Tsuna changed me."

'Yamamoto-san…' Tsuna murmured, his eyes getting teary.

"Well, that might be all the milk that Tsuna's mom gives me every time I visit, though," Takeshi added, scratching the back of his head. "It's really good! It really relaxes me after a game."

Ishou smirked, feeling Tsuna's slight disappointment despite knowing that he would say that. "That right? Should help myself to some next time."

* * *

A/N : I finally managed to kick my lazy butt into gear. Sorry for those who were waiting. I _do_ know what I'm doing with this story, but I'm just kind of having writer's block right now. Partially why I took so long with this chapter; I really didn't know how to make Gokudera and Tsuna/Sora/Ishou meet (officially). Finally, I just threw all the ideas out the window and went with this. Not the greatest way of doing it, but I really didn't know what to do.

For all you readers out there, you guys mind giving me a bit of 'filler' ideas? I need a bit more time to pass in 'daily arc' type of stuff before I can write in 'the fox' (yeah, yeah, I know you know who it is, but I REFUSE TO COME OUT WITH IT). I would come up with the stuff myself, but I hardly have time as it is. Not to worry though, once I get to the actual storyline I'm getting to, updates will be faster since I have them (mostly) written out from months ago.

I re-wrote Yume's entry into this chapter, and reworked his character design. About his strange speech, I was initially trying to convey that he speaks in a dialect. Not the old ones like Basil does, but a completely different one that is developed when one lives through very many times and has travelled to very many places. Yume is very old, and knows the different dialects of all Japan for the past 600 years. Later, I decided 'what the heck, if I'm gonna make him unique, I'm just gonna make him have a Jamaican accent while speaking Japanese!' It really doesn't sound like a Jamaican accent re-reading it, but hopefully it gets enough meaning across that the way he talks is different from everyone else. (Re-checking this weeks after I wrote the dialogue… I should be putting this note at the top, shouldn't I? Oh well :D)

I completely forgot how Ishou looks like in terms of his hair and eye color, so I could be completely wrong about how I wrote him. I'm really tired, and I can't remember what chapter it was that describes his appearance. Anyone mind letting me know? I'm planning on doing a (very) rough sketch on Ishou and Sora's appearance in the story so I don't have to keep searching all my chapters for what they look like, since they don't look exactly like Tsuna and I every time I picture what is supposed to be what they look like, they change a little each time. Not so good for story purposes -_-;


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